Dragon wrought kobold newbie guide update

[Fm0684]

Hey guys. I just starting really consistently playing D&d. I know there are kobold guides out there ... But it's 2014. I don't know if better builds have been thought of.

1.)Can someone explain dragonwrought to me?
2.)my brother the dm, is trying to make me go the summoning route. Any thoughts?
3.)I'm gonna be doing a solo campaign. The type of sorcerer I want to be is defensive. I want to be extremely hard to hit, while I slowly pick them apart.

Thanks in advance.

[bjoern]

Hey guys. I just starting really consistently playing D&d. I know there are kobold guides out there ... But it's 2014. I don't know if better builds have been thought of.

1.)Can someone explain dragonwrought to me?
2.)my brother the dm, is trying to make me go the summoning route. Any thoughts?
3.)I'm gonna be doing a solo campaign. The type of sorcerer I want to be is defensive. I want to be extremely hard to hit, while I slowly pick them apart.

Thanks in advance.

Well, dragonwrought usually revolves around taking the dragon wrought feat so that you are a "true dragon" and making your age venerable so you get the mental stat boosts reflecting a life spent getting smarter without taking the physical penalties of old age. And then taking the "loredrake" feat from dragonlance I believe itis that allows a "true dragon" to change his hit dice to d10s (a dragon usually has d12s so this is typically a penalty but for a kobold sorcerer its a huge boon.) And in return gaining two full caster levels and some other minor bonuses.

Then you take draconic rites of passage for 100gp and 1hp and then later spend a feat on draconic reservoir , 1000gp, and 3hp and greater rites of draconic passage to get your SLA useable 3/day and 1 more full caster level.

So at level 6 you have a spellcaster level of 9 and as a sorcerer you are casting 4th level spells and will be casting 5th level spells next level.

Definitely too cheesy for most tables, but if your brother is game I'd say go for it.

[Red Fel]

1.)Can someone explain dragonwrought to me?

Dragonwrought is a feat, found in Races of the Dragon, that can only be taken by a Kobold, and only at level 1. It changes your type from Humanoid to Dragon. Unlike other races that have the Dragonblood subtype (and count as Dragons for various purposes) a Dragonwrought Kobold has the Dragon type, in full.

The cheese comes from the fact that people argue, to varying degrees of success, that a Dragonwrought Kobold is a True Dragon, and therefore does not suffer physical penalties from aging. As a result, those who espouse such an argument assert that you can play, at first level, a Venerable Dragonwrought Kobold with bonuses to Cha, Int and Wis, without any penalties. Next they apply things that apply only to True Dragons, such as the Loredrake archetype mentioned by Bjoern.


2.)my brother the dm, is trying to make me go the summoning route. Any thoughts?

Never let anybody at the table make you do anything you don't want to. Especially the DM.


3.)I'm gonna be doing a solo campaign. The type of sorcerer I want to be is defensive. I want to be extremely hard to hit, while I slowly pick them apart.

It doesn't work as well as you'd think. The problem with a defense is that it can be overcome over time. Only two conditions keep an enemy from attacking you - disabled or dead. If your spells aren't disabling an opponent, he still gets to hit you, and no matter how good your protective buffs are, an enemy can always get lucky.

Are there options? Yes. Wings of Cover (also from Races of the Dragon) is one such option. But from an optimization standpoint, your better choice is to invest in battlefield control spells that let you separate your enemies, disable them, and then pick them apart one by one.

[Rebel7284]

There are various levels of cheese you can do with the dragonwraught feat.

First, the feat: http://dndtools.eu/feats/races-of-the-dragon--83/dragonwrought--748/

1. It makes you be immune to all aging penalties, so if you are willing to start older for a +2 or +3 bonus to all mental stats you can which is nice, especially if you take a kobold variant from Unearthed Arcana that does not have a CON penalty. The exact quote is on page 39 under aging effect table:

Ability penalties due to age do not apply to dragonwrought kobolds. See the Dragonwrought feat, page 100.

2. The following web enhancement http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a allows dragonwraught kobolds willing to spend their second feat on a crappy SLA to gain a free level of sorcerer. This makes them gain spellcasting at the same level as a wizard.

So at +3 Cha, +1 sorcerer level for 2 feats, you are a pretty amazing sorcerer already. However, some people take it further.

3. The Loredrake archeotype for (true?) dragons (not a feat!) allows dragons to get +2 extra sorcerer levels and in exchange their racial hit dice drops to a D10. Totally not intended for kobolds, but some people take this anyway.

4. There is a sidebar somewhere that says that dragons past a certain age automatically qualify for epic feats. The aforementioned page 39 gives Kobolds age categories. Therefore, Kobolds should qualify for epic feats.

5. There is a spellhoarding template that converts all of the dragon's sorcerer casting to wizard casting and gives, I believe, even more free levels.

Personally? I think 1 and 2 are fair, and 3, 4, 5 are inappropriate for MOST games.

Edit: as for summoning vs. battlefield control, both are reasonably good for a solo character. After all, even after you divide your enemies into little, manageable sections by walls/fogs, you still need a way to go for the kill. Summoning a fighter is one way to do it. Also, some summons can do battlefield control too! Regardless, Wings of Cover is kinda amazing. A 2nd level spell slot for pretty much a "NO button".

[Fm0684]

Well, dragonwrought usually revolves around taking the dragon wrought feat so that you are a "true dragon" and making your age venerable so you get the mental stat boosts reflecting a life spent getting smarter without taking the physical penalties of old age. And then taking the "loredrake" feat from dragonlance I believe itis that allows a "true dragon" to change his hit dice to d10s (a dragon usually has d12s so this is typically a penalty but for a kobold sorcerer its a huge boon.) And in return gaining two full caster levels and some other minor bonuses.

Then you take draconic rites of passage for 100gp and 1hp and then later spend a feat on draconic reservoir , 1000gp, and 3hp and greater rites of draconic passage to get your SLA useable 3/day and 1 more full caster level.

So at level 6 you have a spellcaster level of 9 and as a sorcerer you are casting 4th level spells and will be casting 5th level spells next level.

Definitely too cheesy for most tables, but if your brother is game I'd say go for it.
Thank you. I'll have to reread what you wrote several times to comprehend it. I'm already level 4 and I did take dragonwrought. I'm not sure if I did the age venerable route. I created a young dragon. And my brother warned me with age venerable, I could drop dead at any moment of natural causes.

Knowing my brother, once he sees how strong I am, he'll assign monsters based on that level.

I'm not sure how the age venerable thing works.

[Fm0684]

Dragonwrought is a feat, found in Races of the Dragon, that can only be taken by a Kobold, and only at level 1. It changes your type from Humanoid to Dragon. Unlike other races that have the Dragonblood subtype (and count as Dragons for various purposes) a Dragonwrought Kobold has the Dragon type, in full.

The cheese comes from the fact that people argue, to varying degrees of success, that a Dragonwrought Kobold is a True Dragon, and therefore does not suffer physical penalties from aging. As a result, those who espouse such an argument assert that you can play, at first level, a Venerable Dragonwrought Kobold with bonuses to Cha, Int and Wis, without any penalties. Next they apply things that apply only to True Dragons, such as the Loredrake archetype mentioned by Bjoern.



Never let anybody at the table make you do anything you don't want to. Especially the DM.



It doesn't work as well as you'd think. The problem with a defense is that it can be overcome over time. Only two conditions keep an enemy from attacking you - disabled or dead. If your spells aren't disabling an opponent, he still gets to hit you, and no matter how good your protective buffs are, an enemy can always get lucky.

Are there options? Yes. Wings of Cover (also from Races of the Dragon) is one such option. But from an optimization standpoint, your better choice is to invest in battlefield control spells that let you separate your enemies, disable them, and then pick them apart one by one.

Oh. I see. So creating a defensive mentality wizard is harder than I thought.

[bjoern]

There are various levels of cheese you can do with the dragonwraught feat.

First, the feat: http://dndtools.eu/feats/races-of-the-dragon--83/dragonwrought--748/

1. It makes you be immune to all aging penalties, so if you are willing to start older for a +2 or +3 bonus to all mental stats you can which is nice, especially if you take a kobold variant from Unearthed Arcana that does not have a CON penalty. The exact quote is on page 39 under aging effect table:


2. The following web enhancement http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a allows dragonwraught kobolds willing to spend their second feat on a crappy SLA to gain a free level of sorcerer. This makes them gain spellcasting at the same level as a wizard.

So at +3 Cha, +1 sorcerer level for 2 feats, you are a pretty amazing sorcerer already. However, some people take it further.

3. The Loredrake archeotype for (true?) dragons (not a feat!) allows dragons to get +2 extra sorcerer levels and in exchange their racial hit dice drops to a D10. Totally not intended for kobolds, but some people take this anyway.

4. There is a sidebar somewhere that says that dragons past a certain age automatically qualify for epic feats. The aforementioned page 39 gives Kobolds age categories. Therefore, Kobolds should qualify for epic feats.

5. There is a spellhoarding template that converts all of the dragon's sorcerer casting to wizard casting and gives, I believe, even more free levels.

Personally? I think 1 and 2 are fair, and 3, 4, 5 are inappropriate for MOST games.

My bad on loredrake. I don't have the book. I thought it was a feat, my mistake.

Also, you don't have to be dragonwrought to take rites of draconic passage and greater rites.

[Ruethgar]

The lack of physical ability detriment is not from true dragon but rather from the Dragonwrought feats itself. They do qualify as true dragons because the updated information in Races of the Dragon as to the definition does not cover dragons presented in the book itself because of the phrase published to date which when written was not published. This means that the Dracinomicon definition is valid and Dragonwrought Kobolds qualify. The Loredrake archetype is not a feat but rather free-ish from Dragons of Eberon, it does lower your racial HD to d10, but you have none so that does not matter.

It may also be noted that some people add White Dragonspawn from Dragonlance for an added sorcerer level which, by the official printing, is LA +1.

[Rebel7284]

And my brother warned me with age venerable, I could drop dead at any moment of natural causes.


You can still be old (90 years of age) for a nice, even +2 and have several centuries of life to live. Especially if you chose a metallic dragon as your heritage (Max age = 120+ Cha * 10 years... get your Cha to 30 as you level for max life of 420 years.)

[Milodiah]

It's my opinion that if you're going to do a solo campaign, your character sheet looking like fondue is rather justified- you've only got yourself to rely on, after all. As many NPCs as the DM may throw down beside you, you can't be sure that they'll continue to be there- after all, they're not PCs...

Also, if you can, maybe you'd want to take your first level in one of the hybrid martial/magic classes like Duskblade or something. It'll help keep you alive for a bit.

[Fm0684]

There are various levels of cheese you can do with the dragonwraught feat.

First, the feat: http://dndtools.eu/feats/races-of-the-dragon--83/dragonwrought--748/

1. It makes you be immune to all aging penalties, so if you are willing to start older for a +2 or +3 bonus to all mental stats you can which is nice, especially if you take a kobold variant from Unearthed Arcana that does not have a CON penalty. The exact quote is on page 39 under aging effect table:


2. The following web enhancement http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a allows dragonwraught kobolds willing to spend their second feat on a crappy SLA to gain a free level of sorcerer. This makes them gain spellcasting at the same level as a wizard.

So at +3 Cha, +1 sorcerer level for 2 feats, you are a pretty amazing sorcerer already. However, some people take it further.

3. The Loredrake archeotype for (true?) dragons (not a feat!) allows dragons to get +2 extra sorcerer levels and in exchange their racial hit dice drops to a D10. Totally not intended for kobolds, but some people take this anyway.

4. There is a sidebar somewhere that says that dragons past a certain age automatically qualify for epic feats. The aforementioned page 39 gives Kobolds age categories. Therefore, Kobolds should qualify for epic feats.

5. There is a spellhoarding template that converts all of the dragon's sorcerer casting to wizard casting and gives, I believe, even more free levels.

Personally? I think 1 and 2 are fair, and 3, 4, 5 are inappropriate for MOST games.

Edit: as for summoning vs. battlefield control, both are reasonably good for a solo character. After all, even after you divide your enemies into little, manageable sections by walls/fogs, you still need a way to go for the kill. Summoning a fighter is one way to do it. Also, some summons can do battlefield control too! Regardless, Wings of Cover is kinda amazing. A 2nd level spell slot for pretty much a "NO button".

What does sla mean? And would it be too late to implement what you said at number 2?

What is the basic combat approach /mentality any of you have playing a young dragonwrought kobold that is pretty much going to be solo.

[Fm0684]

You can still be old (90 years of age) for a nice, even +2 and have several centuries of life to live. Especially if you chose a metallic dragon as your heritage (Max age = 120+ Cha * 10 years... get your Cha to 30 as you level for max life of 420 years.)

I forget what dragon I picked. I don't have the paper in front of me. I believe I was Gold.

[bjoern]

What does sla mean? And would it be too late to implement what you said at number 2?

What is the basic combat approach /mentality any of you have playing a young dragonwrought kobold that is pretty much going to be solo.

SLA is a spell like ability.

You can take rites of draconic passage at any time after 3rd level. All you have to do is sacrifice a 100gp gem and permanently lose1hp. In return you get to pick any 1st level spell to have as a spell like ability useable once per day.

At 6th level you can take the feat draconic reservoir which makes your spell like ability from draconic rites of passage use able 3/day instead of only once. More importantly, the feat is a prerequisite for greater rites of draconic passage which requires you to sacrifice a 1000gp gem and permanently lose 3 more HP but grants you +1 full caster level. Totally worth it.


As far as combat strategy goes.....since you dont have any other party members you can use battle field control with impunity. Fell drain and/or fell frighten kelgores grave mist, acid fog, black tentacles, lots of great spells for a caster to dominate groups of enemies. Pick up just a couple of damage spells of different flavors . Don't get too many damage spells as they are usually redundant. I like the following damage spells

Level 1. Magic missile and maybe lesser orbof acid

Level 2 scorching ray

Level ffireball

Level 4 wings of flurry and orb of force.

With a few metamagic feats to boost those damage spells you really shouldn't need much more than that.

Here's a link to a good compilation of spells that are the cream of the crop so to speak.you'll have to copy and paste the link. For some reason its not letting me make it a clickable link.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?104002-3-5e-The-Logic-Ninja-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-Batman

[Fm0684]

The lack of physical ability detriment is not from true dragon but rather from the Dragonwrought feats itself. They do qualify as true dragons because the updated information in Races of the Dragon as to the definition does not cover dragons presented in the book itself because of the phrase published to date which when written was not published. This means that the Dracinomicon definition is valid and Dragonwrought Kobolds qualify. The Loredrake archetype is not a feat but rather free-ish from Dragons of Eberon, it does lower your racial HD to d10, but you have none so that does not matter.

It may also be noted that some people add White Dragonspawn from Dragonlance for an added sorcerer level which, by the official printing, is LA +1.

I don't want to debate my brother on if the kobold is a dragon or not. Even if I did prove him wrong knowing him, out of spite he would create ridiculously strong monsters.

So I want to be as strong as I can fairly be to be on my own.

[Red Fel]

What does sla mean? And would it be too late to implement what you said at number 2?

SLA stands for "spell-like ability." The Draconic Rite of Passage can be taken by any Kobold, and grants you a 1st-level Sorcerer spell of your choice as a 1/day spell-like ability. It is not a feat, but rather costs an investment of hit points and money. (Read about it in Races of the Dragon.) The web enhancement notes that if you undertake the Rite, and then take the Draconic Reservoir feat (gives you 3/day uses instead of 1/day), you can then undertake the Greater Draconic Rite of Passage, which increases your Sorcerer CL and grants extra spells per day.

There is no "too late" point for this, but note that the Greater Rite can only be taken after you have 6 HD (that's 6 character levels, in your case).


What is the basic combat approach /mentality any of you have playing a young dragonwrought kobold that is pretty much going to be solo.

As a rule, Kobolds lend themselves towards an evasive, tactical combat style, due to how frail they are. They also tend to fight in large numbers, for much the same reason - a solo Kobold is in big trouble. Frankly, it's very easy to die in a solo campaign generally; for a Kobold, it's almost outrageously easy unless you're quite careful. (That could be why your DM was encouraging you to summon. Safety in numbers, and all.)

I'd suggest taking the Dragon Wings feat. Ordinarily, it can only be taken at 1st level, but a Dragonwrought Kobold can take it at 3rd. At 6th level, you can upgrade them to Improved Dragon Wings, granting you actual flight. Since this is (Ex) flight (instead of (Su) or (Sp)), it can't be dispelled, giving you an easy means of mobility and a great method of evasion.

I would also read over that web enhancement, and take any variant traits your DM will allow. Slight Build is fantastic, as are the free Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for heavy and light picks. Weapon Familiarity is useful if you play a class that uses martial weapons. And having natural claws may not be that useful for you, but it might let you qualify for things that require or enhance a claw attack.

Your combat style would likely involve using terrain and obstacles to protect yourself while attacking at range, or using mobility to move in and out of melee, depending on your role. Since you're going with Sorcerer, range is an excellent option. Dragon Wings + Improved Dragon Wings is actually great for you, because it lets you rain down terror with impunity. Combine it with ranged defenses like Protection from Arrows to ensure that things can't reach you, even though you can reach them.

[Fm0684]

SLA is a spell like ability.

You can take rites of draconic passage at any time after 3rd level. All you have to do is sacrifice a 100gp gem and permanently lose1hp. In return you get to pick any 1st level spell to have as a spell like ability useable once per day.

At 6th level you can take the feat draconic reservoir which makes your spell like ability from draconic rites of passage use able 3/day instead of only once. More importantly, the feat is a prerequisite for greater rites of draconic passage which requires you to sacrifice a 1000gp gem and permanently lose 3 more HP but grants you +1 full caster level. Totally worth it.

So the plus one full caster level means that my spell like ability that I could use 3 times a day would be a lev 2 now?

My dm made made me being able to perform the ritual only possible at a temple of bohammad which is two weeks away. With me just being a lev 4, having two do two weeks worth of survival checks, day and night isn't easy.

[bjoern]

So the plus one full caster level means that my spell like ability that I could use 3 times a day would be a lev 2 now?

My dm made made me being able to perform the ritual only possible at a temple of bohammad which is two weeks away. With me just being a lev 4, having two do two weeks worth of survival checks, day and night isn't easy.

Nope its a level one spell forever. Pick something that you don't want to cast multiple times per day but always want to cast a few times a DAy. Mage armor and nerveskitter are common choices. It does scale with your level though. So if you pick mage armor or another level 1 spell that has a duration or something based off level you'll get to use your level for it.

I'd make it an adventure to get there. Hire on as a escort or something to a caravan with other guards to help you get there. You'll get paid and have some other people to help out in a fight. Its worth getting if your going to be a sorcerer.

EDIT-- what the +1 full caster level means isthat of you are a llevel 6 sorcerer, you cast spells as a level 7 sorcerer and have a CL of 7. So you'll gain access to higher level spells one level earlier than you normally would.
A normal sorcer gets spell access as listed below
Level 1 spells at level 1
Level 2 spells at level 4
Level 3 spells at level 6
Etc

With a +1 caster level it would now be

Level 1 spells at level 1
Level 2 spells at level 3
Level 3 spells at level 5
Etc
(This is the same progression rate as a wizard and one of the reasons the wizard is considered as superior. Now you are back on even ground with him at least in regard to this issue.)

[Rebel7284]

So the plus one full caster level means that my spell like ability that I could use 3 times a day would be a lev 2 now?

No, it means that instead of being level 6 and casting like sorcerer 6, you become level 6 who casts like sorcerer 7.

[bjoern]

And taking loredrake archetype (not sure if still possible for you) you would make you be 2 whole levels ahead of a wizard.
With dragon wings and improved dragon wings (a great idea BTW) you could rain potent death from on high. And you'd be casting 3 levels higher than you normally would so you could tackle higher CR enemies at a lower level and get significantly more XP for punching above your weight.

[Fm0684]

Nope its a level one spell forever. Pick something that you don't want to cast multiple times per day but always want to cast a few times a DAy. Mage armor and nerveskitter are common choices. It does scale with your level though. So if you pick mage armor or another level 1 spell that has a duration or something based off level you'll get to use your level for it.

I'd make it an adventure to get there. Hire on as a escort or something to a caravan with other guards to help you get there. You'll get paid and have some other people to help out in a fight. Its worth getting if your going to be a sorcerer.

EDIT-- what the +1 full caster level means isthat of you are a llevel 6 sorcerer, you cast spells as a level 7 sorcerer and have a CL of 7. So you'll gain access to higher level spells one level earlier than you normally would.
A normal sorcer gets spell access as listed below
Level 1 spells at level 1
Level 2 spells at level 4
Level 3 spells at level 6
Etc

With a +1 caster level it would now be

Level 1 spells at level 1
Level 2 spells at level 3
Level 3 spells at level 5
Etc
(This is the same progression rate as a wizard and one of the reasons the wizard is considered as superior. Now you are back on even ground with him at least in regard to this issue.)

Got it. Thanks

Make it an adventure. Great idea. I still need to get more gold to be able to hire an escort and horse n carriage and have rations etc.

But great idea.

[bjoern]

Got it. Thanks

Make it an adventure. Great idea. I still need to get more gold to be able to hire an escort and horse n carriage and have rations etc.

But great idea.

Don't hire an escort. Look for a caravan that needs someone to escort them. Your a mage. Hire on and make them PAY YOU.

[Fm0684]

Don't hire an escort. Look for a caravan that needs someone to escort them. Your a mage. Hire on and make them PAY YOU.

Awesome! I need to develop more of this mentality.

[bjoern]

Awesome! I need to develop more of this mentality.

Yeah, and it will give your DM something to work with for adventuring and beginning to make a story for you.

[Fm0684]

And taking loredrake archetype (not sure if still possible for you) you would make you be 2 whole levels ahead of a wizard.
With dragon wings and improved dragon wings (a great idea BTW) you could rain potent death from on high. And you'd be casting 3 levels higher than you normally would so you could tackle higher CR enemies at a lower level and get significantly more XP for punching above your weight.

Yea, but having a higher castor level means I'll constantly face monsters higher than my level. Being a solo campaign won't that work against me?

[bjoern]

Yea, but having a higher castor level means I'll constantly face monsters higher than my level. Being a solo campaign won't that work against me?

Just because your caster level is higher doesn't change your ECL . Your still a 6th level character without any level adjustments or racial HD. If he throws stuff at you that would be normal for a level 6 you will probably smoke it since you've got stronger spells to hit it with. When he throws tougher guys at you, you'll get more xp for them than you would have if you faced them a few levels later.

To boil it down to numbers.....you are a strong ECL 6 (but still a 6)

You take down a CR 8 monster and get 3600xp

If you take down that same monster at ECL 8 you only get 2400xp

Punching above your weight is a good way to level up quickly. But you have to play smart. Punching above your weight can be dangerous when they start punching back. But no risk no reward.

[Fm0684]

SLA stands for "spell-like ability." The Draconic Rite of Passage can be taken by any Kobold, and grants you a 1st-level Sorcerer spell of your choice as a 1/day spell-like ability. It is not a feat, but rather costs an investment of hit points and money. (Read about it in Races of the Dragon.) The web enhancement notes that if you undertake the Rite, and then take the Draconic Reservoir feat (gives you 3/day uses instead of 1/day), you can then undertake the Greater Draconic Rite of Passage, which increases your Sorcerer CL and grants extra spells per day.

There is no "too late" point for this, but note that the Greater Rite can only be taken after you have 6 HD (that's 6 character levels, in your case).



As a rule, Kobolds lend themselves towards an evasive, tactical combat style, due to how frail they are. They also tend to fight in large numbers, for much the same reason - a solo Kobold is in big trouble. Frankly, it's very easy to die in a solo campaign generally; for a Kobold, it's almost outrageously easy unless you're quite careful. (That could be why your DM was encouraging you to summon. Safety in numbers, and all.)

I'd suggest taking the Dragon Wings feat. Ordinarily, it can only be taken at 1st level, but a Dragonwrought Kobold can take it at 3rd. At 6th level, you can upgrade them to Improved Dragon Wings, granting you actual flight. Since this is (Ex) flight (instead of (Su) or (Sp)), it can't be dispelled, giving you an easy means of mobility and a great method of evasion.

I would also read over that web enhancement, and take any variant traits your DM will allow. Slight Build is fantastic, as are the free Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for heavy and light picks. Weapon Familiarity is useful if you play a class that uses martial weapons. And having natural claws may not be that useful for you, but it might let you qualify for things that require or enhance a claw attack.

Your combat style would likely involve using terrain and obstacles to protect yourself while attacking at range, or using mobility to move in and out of melee, depending on your role. Since you're going with Sorcerer, range is an excellent option. Dragon Wings + Improved Dragon Wings is actually great for you, because it lets you rain down terror with impunity. Combine it with ranged defenses like Protection from Arrows to ensure that things can't reach you, even though you can reach them.

Awesometastic. I'm level 4 is it too late to pick the wing feat? Sounds like a great plan. Unless my brother makes me fight air monsters. Lol.

Con, diplomacy, trap making, knowledge arcana, spell craft... These are where most of my points are. Practical every day uses?

[bjoern]

Awesometastic. I'm level 4 is it too late to pick the wing feat? Sounds like a great plan. Unless my brother makes me fight air monsters. Lol.

Con, diplomacy, trap making, knowledge arcana, spell craft... These are where most of my points are. Practical every day uses?

Flight is even more important when you're fighting airborne baddies as it evens out the playing field. Dragonwjngs is first level only. You may be able to get the DM to allow it anyway. I prefer to cast alter self into an avariel for flying 50 (good) and flyby attack. Plus this way would save you two feats which you could spend on metamagic or something else.

Spot and listen are important especially if on your own. And a surprised caster is a dead one usually. While you're at it, get something to boost your initiative. A wand of nerveskitter with 50 charges will give you +5to initiative for just 750gp. Sandals of the vagabond cost 4000gp and give +2 to initiative I believe an item of +2 dex will give a +1 initiative for 4000gp and will also help out AC and ranged touch attacks.

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

I just want to note regarding defense that being difficult to detect is one of the most valuable defenses. Things like incorporeality and meld into stone, as well as alternate movement modes, can help with this.

[bjoern]

I just want to note regarding defense that being difficult to detect is one of the most valuable defenses. Things like incorporeality and meld into stone, as well as alternate movement modes, can help with this.

This can be gotten by alter self as well. A lot of your evasive spells Like incorpeality and such are spells that you may only need once per day. They're not usually the best options as a spell known. However you do still need them. As a sorcerer you benefit the most from a rune staff. For 3000gp you can get a rune staff with 5 different level 2 spells on it, each useable once per day. When you use a spell from a rune staff you use your caster level and it uses up a daily slot from that level. It basically let's that spell count as a spell known once per day.

For 3000gold that's a bargain because you can grab a few different helpful spells and throw on there. Alter self 1/day mirror image1/day eetc. Specifics for pricing runestaves are in the DMG. But they are very affordable when compared to wands and regular staves.

[Fm0684]

OK, from what I gathered I think I have a good outline for what I want to do. Recap. Wings/fflight great defense combo plus maneuverability. Summons are a good route. Dragonwrought leading to rites of passage and even greater is awesome. Keep my distance. That wings of something is a great immediate action defense. Er... Wands are great to have. I'm not sure about a staff since I'm 2 ft can't weild too many things.

Some of the best ways to stay long range? And how do familiarize myself with when my brother is bending the rules? Lol. Cause I think I'm gonna be pretty powerful eventually?

[bjoern]

OK, from what I gathered I think I have a good outline for what I want to do. Recap. Wings/fflight great defense combo plus maneuverability. Summons are a good route. Dragonwrought leading to rites of passage and even greater is awesome. Keep my distance. That wings of something is a great immediate action defense. Er... Wands are great to have. I'm not sure about a staff since I'm 2 ft can't weild too many things.

Some of the best ways to stay long range? And how do familiarize myself with when my brother is bending the rules? Lol. Cause I think I'm gonna be pretty powerful eventually?

Its wings of cover. And yes its very nice.

A rune staff would be sized to you like any other weapon (small) and would pribably only weigh 1 pound and its a simple weapon so you'd be able to use it. Its pretty much just a big wand.

Best ways to stay long range....I'd grad a lesser metamagic rod of enlarge to make your ranges bigger a few times a day.

Also something else to consider, sorcerer is one of those classes that you want to get out of as soon as you can. Meaning that the base class of sorcerer doesn't offer any in class bonuses for staying in it. Usually level 6 is as far as you want to go in it. There are several prestige classes out there that are good but not always together with each other due to the requirments to get in .

Incantatrix is a strong class for getting extra metamagic feats and cheaper metamagic costs on your spells

Archmage is nice and gives you class features that mimic metamagic

Initiate of the sevenfold veil is strong for making defensive bubbles around yourself that do mean things to baddies when they get too close.

Fatespinner is easy to qualify for and let's you reroll bad die rolls a few times a day (actually more useful than you would think when you roll a 1 to save against that save or die youll be glad for the reroll)



Just read up on some of them and see what sounds fun. That way you can plan out your build so you have all the requirements met for the class you want.

[Werephilosopher]

It may also be noted that some people add White Dragonspawn from Dragonlance for an added sorcerer level which, by the official printing, is LA +1.

Although that's impossible; dragonwrought kobolds are born as dragons, so they can't become dragonspawn.


I'd suggest taking the Dragon Wings feat. Ordinarily, it can only be taken at 1st level, but a Dragonwrought Kobold can take it at 3rd. At 6th level, you can upgrade them to Improved Dragon Wings, granting you actual flight. Since this is (Ex) flight (instead of (Su) or (Sp)), it can't be dispelled, giving you an easy means of mobility and a great method of evasion.

An interesting thing about dragons is that they automatically qualify for anything that has "dragonblood" as a prereq, meaning a dragonwrought kobold can take Improved Dragon Wings without taking Dragon Wings first.

[oldkingkoal]

I think I remember reading somewhere that alter self restricts what you can turn into based on your type. So as a dragonwrought with the dragon type you could theoretically transform into a dragon of the appropriate HD right?

[Rebel7284]

I think I remember reading somewhere that alter self restricts what you can turn into based on your type. So as a dragonwrought with the dragon type you could theoretically transform into a dragon of the appropriate HD right?

Do you mean the spell description perhaps?

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/alterSelf.htm

First line: You assume the form of a creature of the same type as your normal form.

So yes, you can turn into wurmlings, and any other dragons you can find with 5 or less HD.

[Ruethgar]

It is clear in the rules that race is determined before feats in character creation, so while one cannot become Dragonspawn through the course of the game if they are Dragonwrought, they can start as a Dragonwrought Dragonspawn Kobold despite the lack of logic behind applying an acquired template before your first feat(though of course you might also just retrain or Chaos Shuffle the feat).

[Fm0684]

Its wings of cover. And yes its very nice.

A rune staff would be sized to you like any other weapon (small) and would pribably only weigh 1 pound and its a simple weapon so you'd be able to use it. Its pretty much just a big wand.

Best ways to stay long range....I'd grad a lesser metamagic rod of enlarge to make your ranges bigger a few times a day.

Also something else to consider, sorcerer is one of those classes that you want to get out of as soon as you can. Meaning that the base class of sorcerer doesn't offer any in class bonuses for staying in it. Usually level 6 is as far as you want to go in it. There are several prestige classes out there that are good but not always together with each other due to the requirments to get in .

Incantatrix is a strong class for getting extra metamagic feats and cheaper metamagic costs on your spells

Archmage is nice and gives you class features that mimic metamagic

Initiate of the sevenfold veil is strong for making defensive bubbles around yourself that do mean things to baddies when they get too close.

Fatespinner is easy to qualify for and let's you reroll bad die rolls a few times a day (actually more useful than you would think when you roll a 1 to save against that save or die youll be glad for the reroll)



Just read up on some of them and see what sounds fun. That way you can plan out your build so you have all the requirements met for the class you want.

Huh? So after I get to level six I pick another class? Where can I read about my options?

I love the iniate class for the defensive bubbles already! But fatespinner sounds fantastic.

[bjoern]

Huh? So after I get to level six I pick another class? Where can I read about my options?

I love the iniate class for the defensive bubbles already! But fatespinner sounds fantastic.

http://dndtools.eu/classes/initiate-of-the-sevenfold-veil/

Yeah, it usually better to take a prestige class as soon as you can. Reason being is that the options given by the prestige classes are better than the base classes can offer.

Usually, the best defense is a good offense . And since you'll be flying a lot, enemies might not get next to you to taste you're defensive bubble. Just think through your combat tactics and make sure that they mesh together rather than clash with each other.

That site will also allow you to search for other classes, feats, spells, anything you need

[Fm0684]

http://dndtools.eu/classes/initiate-of-the-sevenfold-veil/

Yeah, it usually better to take a prestige class as soon as you can. Reason being is that the options given by the prestige classes are better than the base classes can offer.

Usually, the best defense is a good offense . And since you'll be flying a lot, enemies might not get next to you to taste you're defensive bubble. Just think through your combat tactics and make sure that they mesh together rather than clash with each other.

That site will also allow you to search for other classes, feats, spells, anything you need

Looking at the requirements how would I be able to get prestige as soon as I can? Unless my dm allows me to reset my skill points.

Is it good to master one school? Like let's say the school of illusion. I forgot what the exact term is.

[bjoern]

Looking at the requirements how would I be able to get prestige as soon as I can? Unless my dm allows me to reset my skill points.

Is it good to master one school? Like let's say the school of illusion. I forgot what the exact term is.

If I remember correctly, incantatrix is the soonest class you can go into at level 7. The others have requirements that will make youwait until a few levels later. Use Google search for other classes apart from the ones I mentioned as there are many. If you get a class that you like but have already set your skill points, talk to your DM about shifting some points around to get the numbers you need. There are rules for retraining in players handbook 2 if he doesn't just let you do it.

Mastering a school....that's called specialization and only wizards can do it. And its a matter of preference if its better to specialize or stay generic.

What is your familiar? There is an option in players handbook 2 called metamagic specialist that allows you to skip your familiar and instead get to use your metamagic a few times a day without increasing casting time. You should look Into it, its pretty much a must for a blaster sorcerer if that's what you chose to do.

[Fm0684]

If I remember correctly, incantatrix is the soonest class you can go into at level 7. The others have requirements that will make youwait until a few levels later. Use Google search for other classes apart from the ones I mentioned as there are many. If you get a class that you like but have already set your skill points, talk to your DM about shifting some points around to get the numbers you need. There are rules for retraining in players handbook 2 if he doesn't just let you do it.

Mastering a school....that's called specialization and only wizards can do it. And its a matter of preference if its better to specialize or stay generic.

What is your familiar? There is an option in players handbook 2 called metamagic specialist that allows you to skip your familiar and instead get to use your metamagic a few times a day without increasing casting time. You should look Into it, its pretty much a must for a blaster sorcerer if that's what you chose to do.

Only wizards can specialize? That sucks.

My familiar is a hawk.

I'm not sure I truly understand metamagic feats.

Soooo much to learn.

[bjoern]

Only wizards can specialize? That sucks.

My familiar is a hawk.

I'm not sure I truly understand metamagic feats.

Soooo much to learn.

Metamagic are feats that you take just like you would any other feat. When a metamagic feat is applied to a spell, it has some effect on the spell per the feat description and also comes at a cost, usually making the modified spell take up a higher spell slot.

Let's look at the metamagic feat "empower spell" this feat let's you take any variable numeric values from the spell and add half that value on top of the normal spell effect. At the cost of a +2 level adjustment

OK, so let's apply empower spell to a regular old fireball. Fireball is a 3rd level spell that deals 1d6 damage per level. So let's say you are level 10. It deals 10d6 damage using a 3rd level spell slot. Now well apply empower to it. Roll your 10d6 for damage, take half that amount (rounded down) and add it to your roll. Basically 15d6. But instead of it using up a 3rd level slot, it takes up a 5th level slot (that's the +2 in the feat description).

Now, there are several feats and class features that focus on reducing these costs.
Practical metamagic
Arcane thesis
Incantatrix level 10

Once you start reducing your metamagic costs from the listed costs of +2 +3 whatever, it becomes much more maneagable and potent.

Normally, when a sorcerer applies metamagic to a spell, it no longer takes a standard action. Instead it takes a full round action, which kinda sucks because you can't take a move.
I would consider trading In your familiar for the alternate class feature "metamagic specialist" it allows you to apply metamagic feats a few times a day without increasing the casting time to a full round action. This is very helpful.

If you do decide to keep the familiar though, I'd suggest having a hummingbird as it gives you a constant +4 or +5 (can't remember) to initiative.

[Fm0684]

Metamagic are feats that you take just like you would any other feat. When a metamagic feat is applied to a spell, it has some effect on the spell per the feat description and also comes at a cost, usually making the modified spell take up a higher spell slot.

Let's look at the metamagic feat "empower spell" this feat let's you take any variable numeric values from the spell and add half that value on top of the normal spell effect. At the cost of a +2 level adjustment

OK, so let's apply empower spell to a regular old fireball. Fireball is a 3rd level spell that deals 1d6 damage per level. So let's say you are level 10. It deals 10d6 damage using a 3rd level spell slot. Now well apply empower to it. Roll your 10d6 for damage, take half that amount (rounded down) and add it to your roll. Basically 15d6. But instead of it using up a 3rd level slot, it takes up a 5th level slot (that's the +2 in the feat description).

Now, there are several feats and class features that focus on reducing these costs.
Practical metamagic
Arcane thesis
Incantatrix level 10

Once you start reducing your metamagic costs from the listed costs of +2 +3 whatever, it becomes much more maneagable and potent.

Normally, when a sorcerer applies metamagic to a spell, it no longer takes a standard action. Instead it takes a full round action, which kinda sucks because you can't take a move.
I would consider trading In your familiar for the alternate class feature "metamagic specialist" it allows you to apply metamagic feats a few times a day without increasing the casting time to a full round action. This is very helpful.

If you do decide to keep the familiar though, I'd suggest having a hummingbird as it gives you a constant +4 or +5 (can't remember) to initiative.

Fantastic breakdown! I understand now.

Do I have to wait to trade in my familiar?
Im level 4 now what metamagic feats can I even use at this level?
I hhave been reading up on incantatrix. Doesn't make me specialize in a school? And if so would it be wise to specialize in abjuration? Defense wins championships! Lol. I noticed abjuration is centered around defense. Can someone breakdown abjuration for me?
Thanks!

[bjoern]

Fantastic breakdown! I understand now.

Do I have to wait to trade in my familiar?
Im level 4 now what metamagic feats can I even use at this level?
I hhave been reading up on incantatrix. Doesn't make me specialize in a school? And if so would it be wise to specialize in abjuration? Defense wins championships! Lol. I noticed abjuration is centered around defense. Can someone breakdown abjuration for me?
Thanks!

Normally, you would take the metamagic specialist alternate class feature in lieu of a familiar at level 1. You may be able to have your Dm allow you to do this now and wave that restriction.

At level 4 , you have access to level 2 spells. There's not a whole lot of powerful metamagic you can use now. As far as damaging metamagic goes, Empower spell should be your first choice as it adds 50% damage for a +2 spell slot modification. Which at this level isnt helpful. At level 6 youcan take practical metamagic feat which llet's you chose ONE metamagic feat you already have and reduce it by a +1. Pick empower spell and now its only a +1! This is quite helpful.

Right now at level 4 I'd say tale sculpt spell. You're damage potential is pretty low using spells and you wouldn't want to waste all your spells anyway . Sculpt spell is a +1 metamagic that allows you to shape area effect spells to a different shape of your likening by picking from a list of default shapes listed in the feat description. This coupled with 1st level spells like grease can allow you to disable groups of enemies and pick em off with a crossbow or some other ranged weapon to conserve spells.

Incantatrix doesn't let you specialize. But it does make you ban a school of magic when you take your first level in it. As a solo player I would recommend banning enchantment or maybe illusion. Illusion has some good defensive spells like mirror image so I'd say ban enchantment. This is a nice class because it let's gives you 4 free metamagic feats over 10 levels as well as metamagic cost reducers.

Initiate of the seven fold veil is another solid class that specializes in making walls and defensive bubbles that get progressively more damaging to enemies as you gain levels.the classes capstone at level 7 does lots of damage to enemies that have buff spells on them (like an enemy wizard with lots of effects on him at once.) While this is cool, I find that its not always useful. I prefer incantatrix because cheap metamagic is always useful.


As a sorcerer you can't specialize
That's a wizard only thing. Abjuration is all about protective spells. Protection from evil, dispelling spells, banishing, that sort of thing.
Once you get third level spells (at level 6) you should be able to have practical empower and cast 1st and second level spells for higher damage.
As a solo I'd make your first level 4 spell wings of fury. Its sorcerer only and dragon blooded get a bonus.


EDIT-- your tactics at level 4 could also include spells like color spray for taking down multiple foes at the same time. Use disabling spells that are appropriate for the enemies and that target their weak saves.
Fighter types usually have weak will saves so a spell like glitter dust is potent against them.
Lots of folks (not rogues) have weak reflex saves so they are vulnerable to a grease spell.

[Fm0684]

Normally, you would take the metamagic specialist alternate class feature in lieu of a familiar at level 1. You may be able to have your Dm allow you to do this now and wave that restriction.

At level 4 , you have access to level 2 spells. There's not a whole lot of powerful metamagic you can use now. As far as damaging metamagic goes, Empower spell should be your first choice as it adds 50% damage for a +2 spell slot modification. Which at this level isnt helpful. At level 6 youcan take practical metamagic feat which llet's you chose ONE metamagic feat you already have and reduce it by a +1. Pick empower spell and now its only a +1! This is quite helpful.

Right now at level 4 I'd say tale sculpt spell. You're damage potential is pretty low using spells and you wouldn't want to waste all your spells anyway . Sculpt spell is a +1 metamagic that allows you to shape area effect spells to a different shape of your likening by picking from a list of default shapes listed in the feat description. This coupled with 1st level spells like grease can allow you to disable groups of enemies and pick em off with a crossbow or some other ranged weapon to conserve spells.

Incantatrix doesn't let you specialize. But it does make you ban a school of magic when you take your first level in it. As a solo player I would recommend banning enchantment or maybe illusion. Illusion has some good defensive spells like mirror image so I'd say ban enchantment. This is a nice class because it let's gives you 4 free metamagic feats over 10 levels as well as metamagic cost reducers.

Initiate of the seven fold veil is another solid class that specializes in making walls and defensive bubbles that get progressively more damaging to enemies as you gain levels.the classes capstone at level 7 does lots of damage to enemies that have buff spells on them (like an enemy wizard with lots of effects on him at once.) While this is cool, I find that its not always useful. I prefer incantatrix because cheap metamagic is always useful.


As a sorcerer you can't specialize
That's a wizard only thing. Abjuration is all about protective spells. Protection from evil, dispelling spells, banishing, that sort of thing.
Once you get third level spells (at level 6) you should be able to have practical empower and cast 1st and second level spells for higher damage.
As a solo I'd make your first level 4 spell wings of fury. Its sorcerer only and dragon blooded get a bonus.


EDIT-- your tactics at level 4 could also include spells like color spray for taking down multiple foes at the same time. Use disabling spells that are appropriate for the enemies and that target their weak saves.
Fighter types usually have weak will saves so a spell like glitter dust is potent against them.
Lots of folks (not rogues) have weak reflex saves so they are vulnerable to a grease spell.

Excellent. I love how you thoroughly give me answers, as well as providing information to questions I would ask before I even knew I would ask them. Genius!

I was seriously going to put time in to research monsters to know how to attack them best, but you just made it remarkably easy. Lol. My toughest foes will be wizards I'm guessing. I want to be ultra effective against other casters.

I'm sorry but what do you mean cheap metamagic? Money? Materials? Plus 1 metamagic means plus one castor spell? OK so with sculpt spell I can use my crossbow with grease? I'm not sure I get it.

I want my spells to be more potent, harder to resist rather than trying to be destructive. Imagine how much grease would truly mess up people at higher levels if it was ridiculously hard to resist. I do want a few good destructive ones though.

So basically the metamagic feats you suggested are to set me up for later?

I'm starting to think maybe dragonwrought wasn't what I should of went with. Lol. Sigh.

So feats truly determines the "personality of the character?

Thanks

[Fm0684]

http://dndtools.eu/classes/incantatrix/ doesn't this say that I specialize in a school?

[bjoern]

http://dndtools.eu/classes/incantatrix/ doesn't this say that I specialize in a school?

That is the 3.0 version of incantatrix. You need the 3.5 version (which is stronger than the 3.0 ) its in Players Guide to Faerun.
I haven't been able to find the 3.5 version online so I just Google search for PGtF and download the PDF for free.

[bjoern]

Excellent. I love how you thoroughly give me answers, as well as providing information to questions I would ask before I even knew I would ask them. Genius!

I was seriously going to put time in to research monsters to know how to attack them best, but you just made it remarkably easy. Lol. My toughest foes will be wizards I'm guessing. I want to be ultra effective against other casters.

I'm sorry but what do you mean cheap metamagic? Money? Materials? Plus 1 metamagic means plus one castor spell? OK so with sculpt spell I can use my crossbow with grease? I'm not sure I get it.

I want my spells to be more potent, harder to resist rather than trying to be destructive. Imagine how much grease would truly mess up people at higher levels if it was ridiculously hard to resist. I do want a few good destructive ones though.

So basically the metamagic feats you suggested are to set me up for later?

I'm starting to think maybe dragonwrought wasn't what I should of went with. Lol. Sigh.

So feats truly determines the "personality of the character?

Thanks

By cheap metamagic I mean that its level cost is reduced. So rather than an empowered fireball using a 5th level slot, it uses a 4th level slot once you put practical metamagic on empower. The number of spells that you can cast per day is based on the spell level. You can cast more lower level spells than you can high level spells. So naturally if you can fit those metamagicked spells into lower slots you will be able to get more of them per day.

Wizards huh? They can be tricky if your DM is optimizing them. Countering an optimized wizard is a whole different kind of animal to plan for and to be honest, I haven't done it a lot. Its not a good place to be let's just say that. Have a high initiative, celerity, dimension anchor. Its a chess game of who Makes the first mistake.

But if the other wizard is having a harry potter blasting duel with you then your current strategy is fine: attack his weak save (fortitude)

Crossbow and grease.
Grease only effects a 10' x 10' square. It basically makes guys fall down (which is good) and they keep falling down. If they take damage while standing in grease, they have to roll.....or fall down. Very good spell at level 1. Slap sculpt spell on a grease and that 10' square is now 4- 10' cubes. Much larger, more enemies stuck in it and it usea a 2nd level slot (worth it)That's what the crossbow is for.
1. Grease them they fall down
2. Shoot anyone who manages to stay standing to make them fall down from losing their balance (read balance skill)
3. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

As far as your spells being harder to resist.....the metamagic feat Heighten spell allows you to bump up a spells level to make it come out of a higher slot (and have higher saves) personally, I prefer to use spells that offer no save at all (hard to resist when you dont even get the chance to roll a saving throw)

At this low level and only having 2nd level spells your metamagic options are limited. Sculpt is nice because you can actually use it right now (and its good to keep for later too) take low cost metamagic now so you can actually use it and as you outgrow it as you level up, retrain the feat to a stronger feat with a higher cost (and more potency)

EDIT--

my recommended 4level spell list

1st level spells: grease, color spray, power word : pain

2nd level spell : glitter dust (maybe alter self instead if you can't fly)

[Fm0684]

By cheap metamagic I mean that its level cost is reduced. So rather than an empowered fireball using a 5th level slot, it uses a 4th level slot once you put practical metamagic on empower. The number of spells that you can cast per day is based on the spell level. You can cast more lower level spells than you can high level spells. So naturally if you can fit those metamagicked spells into lower slots you will be able to get more of them per day.

Wizards huh? They can be tricky if your DM is optimizing them. Countering an optimized wizard is a whole different kind of animal to plan for and to be honest, I haven't done it a lot. Its not a good place to be let's just say that. Have a high initiative, celerity, dimension anchor. Its a chess game of who Makes the first mistake.

But if the other wizard is having a harry potter blasting duel with you then your current strategy is fine: attack his weak save (fortitude)

Crossbow and grease.
Grease only effects a 10' x 10' square. It basically makes guys fall down (which is good) and they keep falling down. If they take damage while standing in grease, they have to roll.....or fall down. Very good spell at level 1. Slap sculpt spell on a grease and that 10' square is now 4- 10' cubes. Much larger, more enemies stuck in it and it usea a 2nd level slot (worth it)That's what the crossbow is for.
1. Grease them they fall down
2. Shoot anyone who manages to stay standing to make them fall down from losing their balance (read balance skill)
3. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

As far as your spells being harder to resist.....the metamagic feat Heighten spell allows you to bump up a spells level to make it come out of a higher slot (and have higher saves) personally, I prefer to use spells that offer no save at all (hard to resist when you dont even get the chance to roll a saving throw)

At this low level and only having 2nd level spells your metamagic options are limited. Sculpt is nice because you can actually use it right now (and its good to keep for later too) take low cost metamagic now so you can actually use it and as you outgrow it as you level up, retrain the feat to a stronger feat with a higher cost (and more potency)

You make it sound so easy... Lol. Like there isn't million feats, books, and spells.

I'm gonna do some searching to find more spells like wings of cover.

High ac, mirror image, summon plus great defense that negates damage and having a way to cast two spells one round would be awesome.

[bjoern]

You make it sound so easy... Lol. Like there isn't million feats, books, and spells.

I'm gonna do some searching to find more spells like wings of cover.

High ac, mirror image, summon plus great defense that negates damage and having a way to cast two spells one round would be awesome.

Putting took much effort into high ac isn't usually a good investment, as most big stupid fighters have a 40 strength or more. If they get to you they're going to hit you. Keeping away from them is the best course, flight, illusions, invisibility, etc.


Two spells in a round. You won't get that for a few more levels when you start getting the real gems of sorcerer magic: arcane fusion, greater arcane fusion, arcane spell surge. That's when you can really start laying down some heat. You can do some neat tricks with Celerity if you build for it. But usually its better used as a save your butt spell on someone else's turn. Example: guy with an axe charges you, interrupt him and cast celerity and then cast teleport to get away right before he hits you....or just roast him right before he hits you. Whichever is your style.

OK here is a 4th level kobold that I would make for an example.

Desert kobold dragon wrought sorcerer 4.
Loredrake archetype , metamagic specialist
Flaws: noncombatant, pathetic (wis)
Feats:dragon wrought, empower spell
1st:sculpt spell
3rd:improved initiative.
4th: Iron will from magical location Otyugh hole (costs 3000gp from starting wealth , worth it)
Draconic rites of passage (-1 HP and 100gp)
Gain spell like ability 1/day Mage armor

Spells : caster level 6 (4 from sorc, 2 from loredrake)
1st grease, power word pain, colorspray, magic missile
2nd alter self, wings of cover
3rd fireball

Wand: nerveskitter
Weapon: light crossbow +6 hit, 1d6 damage


Skills : put ranks into spell craft, concentration, and knowledge arcana as they are prerequisites for incantatrix. Use leftover points on class skills

Attributes 32 point buy
Str 9 (-4 racial)
Dex 16 (+2 racial)
Con12
Int 12
Wis 7 (-2 racial -2 flaw)
Cha 17 (+1 level 4)

AC:10+1size+1NA+3 dex=15, 19 with mage armor
Having loredrake helps a lot here. A good strategy is to use a sculpted grease to disable the enemy and pick them off with a crossbow to keep them down. If you find yourself one on one, grease the target and use power word pain to make him take damage and fall each turn.
Use color spray on groups or low HD enemies.
You can use Magic missile to deal out at range and bypass energy resistance for about 10 damage or empowered for 15.
Use alter self mainly to turn into an Avariel for flying or other movement types (swim, climb)
Use wings of cover to protect yourself from attacks
use fireball against groups, especially effective if you grease the groups first since they'll be flatfooted for the reflex save and more likely to fail.


This is just a crude build. And could be refined many different ways to reflect personal tastes.

[Fouredged Sword]

I think I remember reading somewhere that alter self restricts what you can turn into based on your type. So as a dragonwrought with the dragon type you could theoretically transform into a dragon of the appropriate HD right?

If you are dragonwraught, you alter self into dragons rather than humanoids. You can get about half the wyrmling forms due to HD restrictions (5HD max). Black, Green, White, Brass, and Copper are all options. These provide a nice amount of natural armor, fast flight, burrow speeds, good lands speeds, swim speeds, and natural weapons. Also, you can get tiny for really good hide/move sci modifiers.

Note, you do not get many of the iconic dragon abilities like energy immunity or breath attacks, but it can still be a great ability. At level 5 you turn into a fast, highly def, sneaky form that lasts 50min for the cost of a single spell.

[bjoern]

If you are dragonwraught, you alter self into dragons rather than humanoids. You can get about half the wyrmling forms due to HD restrictions (5HD max). Black, Green, White, Brass, and Copper are all options. These provide a nice amount of natural armor, fast flight, burrow speeds, good lands speeds, swim speeds, and natural weapons. Also, you can get tiny for really good hide/move sci modifiers.

Note, you do not get many of the iconic dragon abilities like energy immunity or breath attacks, but it can still be a great ability. At level 5 you turn into a fast, highly def, sneaky form that lasts 50min for the cost of a single spell.

Right. Good catch. I'm so used to being humanoid that I always forget. As dragonwrought there isn't really a need to take the wings and improved wings feats since alter self gives it to you. You gain another +1 to hit (size) +1 ac (size) and +2natural armor. Being a dragon rocks!

[Fm0684]

Putting took much effort into high ac isn't usually a good investment, as most big stupid fighters have a 40 strength or more. If they get to you they're going to hit you. Keeping away from them is the best course, flight, illusions, invisibility, etc.


Two spells in a round. You won't get that for a few more levels when you start getting the real gems of sorcerer magic: arcane fusion, greater arcane fusion, arcane spell surge. That's when you can really start laying down some heat. You can do some neat tricks with Celerity if you build for it. But usually its better used as a save your butt spell on someone else's turn. Example: guy with an axe charges you, interrupt him and cast celerity and then cast teleport to get away right before he hits you....or just roast him right before he hits you. Whichever is your style.

OK here is a 4th level kobold that I would make for an example.

Desert kobold dragon wrought sorcerer 4.
Loredrake archetype , metamagic specialist
Flaws: noncombatant, pathetic (wis)
Feats:dragon wrought, empower spell
1st:sculpt spell
3rd:improved initiative.
4th: Iron will from magical location Otyugh hole (costs 3000gp from starting wealth , worth it)
Draconic rites of passage (-1 HP and 100gp)
Gain spell like ability 1/day Mage armor

Spells : caster level 6 (4 from sorc, 2 from loredrake)
1st grease, power word pain, colorspray, magic missile
2nd alter self, wings of cover
3rd fireball

Wand: nerveskitter
Weapon: light crossbow +6 hit, 1d6 damage


Skills : put ranks into spell craft, concentration, and knowledge arcana as they are prerequisites for incantatrix. Use leftover points on class skills

Attributes 32 point buy
Str 9 (-4 racial)
Dex 16 (+2 racial)
Con12
Int 12
Wis 7 (-2 racial -2 flaw)
Cha 17 (+1 level 4)

AC:10+1size+1NA+3 dex=15, 19 with mage armor
Having loredrake helps a lot here. A good strategy is to use a sculpted grease to disable the enemy and pick them off with a crossbow to keep them down. If you find yourself one on one, grease the target and use power word pain to make him take damage and fall each turn.
Use color spray on groups or low HD enemies.
You can use Magic missile to deal out at range and bypass energy resistance for about 10 damage or empowered for 15.
Use alter self mainly to turn into an Avariel for flying or other movement types (swim, climb)
Use wings of cover to protect yourself from attacks
use fireball against groups, especially effective if you grease the groups first since they'll be flatfooted for the reflex save and more likely to fail.


This is just a crude build. And could be refined many different ways to reflect personal tastes.

Don't be surprised if I copy this almost exactly. Lmbo.

Why a desert kobold? Would desert be the race? And did you trade familiar for something?
My dm told me I can create another character if I want to go another route. Lol. Looks like I will do that. I just want to start playing now and getting stronger. I'll do a little more research on the defensive side of spell casting and d&d then I might adopt this build.

Thanks

[bjoern]

Don't be surprised if I copy this almost exactly. Lmbo.

Why a desert kobold? Would desert be the race? And did you trade familiar for something?
My dm told me I can create another character if I want to go another route. Lol. Looks like I will do that. I just want to start playing now and getting stronger. I'll do a little more research on the defensive side of spell casting and d&d then I might adopt this build.

Thanks

Desert kobold is a racial subtype of kobold. I like it because they don't suffer from light sensitivity and they don't have a con penalty(which sucks when you have d4 for HD)
Yes I traded the familiar for metamagic specialist alternate class feature which allows you to apply a metamagic feat to a spell intelligence modifier +3 times per day without increasing the casting time. Which is helpful since for a sorcerer using metamagic it bumps it up to a full round action.

Always remember that there are retraining rules that let you change out 1 feat, spell, etc each time you level up to something different. This is nice because spells like color spray, sleep, and even eventually empower spell become sub par at higher levels and you can swap them.out for something better.

[Rebel7284]

Desert Kobold is a type of Kobold that lives in the desert. They can be found in the book Unearthed Arcana. They do not have the penalty to Consititution that normal Kobolds have, thus they tend to be harder to kill.

[bjoern]

Metamagic specialist and the retraining guidelines are in Players Handbook 2.

[Red Fel]

A quick Kobold comparison, since everyone has mentioned Desert Kobolds: Kobold (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/kobold.htm): -4 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con. Note that Kobolds get Light Sensitivity. Desert Kobold (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#desertKobolds): -4 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Wis. Note that Desert Kobolds do not get Light Sensitivity.
Additional info available at the SRD in the links above. Generally, if you're willing to suffer the Wis penalty, Desert Kobold is a pretty solid choice.

[Fm0684]

Desert kobold is a racial subtype of kobold. I like it because they don't suffer from light sensitivity and they don't have a con penalty(which sucks when you have d4 for HD)
Yes I traded the familiar for metamagic specialist alternate class feature which allows you to apply a metamagic feat to a spell intelligence modifier +3 times per day without increasing the casting time. Which is helpful since for a sorcerer using metamagic it bumps it up to a full round action.

Always remember that there are retraining rules that let you change out 1 feat, spell, etc each time you level up to something different. This is nice because spells like color spray, sleep, and even eventually empower spell become sub par at higher levels and you can swap them.out for something better.

Now that I really think of it, I just want to eventually be as powerful as a magic user as I can be. Anywhere that leads I want to go. I don't want to be a wizard because I'm not even apt at the basics or fundamentals yet, and especially not ready to tackle pages upon pages of wizard stuff.

I decided to just create another character tonight, this is it. Lol. A powerful magic user that isn't a wizard because I ain't ready for that yet. Please and thank you

[bjoern]

Now that I really think of it, I just want to eventually be as powerful as a magic user as I can be. Anywhere that leads I want to go. I don't want to be a wizard because I'm not even apt at the basics or fundamentals yet, and especially not ready to tackle pages upon pages of wizard stuff.

I decided to just create another character tonight, this is it. Lol. A powerful magic user that isn't a wizard because I ain't ready for that yet. Please and thank you

If you're comfortable with taking a feat that is a little more complex, you should consider taking Ancestral Relic.
It grants your sorcerer the ability to have access to more spells thus making you more versatile (and therefor powerful)

Read about it here.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?267805-Sorcerer-Handbook#4

[Fm0684]

If you're comfortable with taking a feat that is a little more complex, you should consider taking Ancestral Relic.
It grants your sorcerer the ability to have access to more spells thus making you more versatile (and therefor powerful)

Read about it here.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?267805-Sorcerer-Handbook#4

I'll read into that. What you think about druids or clerics? What do you feel are the top five magic users? Generally speaking? Lol. Man I'm confused. Druid solo, cleric solo.. Grrrr

[bjoern]

I'll read into that. What you think about druids or clerics? What do you feel are the top five magic users? Generally speaking? Lol. Man I'm confused. Druid solo, cleric solo.. Grrrr

If you're branching out from sorcerer you've got lots of options. Best I would say would be a wizard, cleric, or druid. They all have the ability to be god basically. Granted not at level 4 but by levels 7-10 you are a force to be reckoned with.

Here are a few excellent guides to making effective wizards.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?104002-3-5e-The-Logic-Ninja-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-Batman


http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876

[Red Fel]

I'll read into that. What you think about druids or clerics? What do you feel are the top five magic users? Generally speaking? Lol. Man I'm confused. Druid solo, cleric solo.. Grrrr

Are you familiar with the Tier System (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?&topic=5293.0)? Basically, the Tier System breaks down and ranks classes based upon their versatility. They range from the miserable Tier 6, that can't do much of anything, to the respectable Tier 3, which is capable of doing one thing quite well or several things moderately well, to the gamebreakingly awesome Tier 1, which has the potential to do absolutely anything better than basically anyone else, including a class designed to do that thing, and still has enough specific abilities to completely derail the plot on its own.

Tier 1 is composed entirely of primary casters.

The classic trifecta of Tier 1 is the Wizard, Cleric, and Druid - the latter two referred to as the CoDzilla (Cleric-or-Druid-zilla): The Wizard is able to prepare for any possible scenario. He can learn spells that enable him to overcome any encounter, any skill check, any social scenario and any combat, basically single-handed. He can use spells to melee better than a Fighter, charm better than a Bard, and skillmonkey better than a Rogue. He can use Divination spells to guarantee that he'll know what's coming, and prepare for it accordingly. And if he's ever caught unprepared, he can teleport away to a private demiplane that he created in his spare time to prepare and recover. The Cleric is, very simply, a melee beast. He has comprehensive access to one of the most powerful spell lists in the game, he has a solid BAB progression and can wield the beefiest weapons and armor, he has a plethora of ACFs and PrCs at his disposal, and he can pretty much do what he wants. He can buff allies, wade into combat, annihilate undead, or just use Miracle and break the game. The Druid is the other half of the CoDzilla. He has Wild Shape for melee, Summon Nature's Ally for minionmancy, and a wide assortment of other useful spells and tricks. He can pretty much do anything anyone else can, but as a bear riding a bear while summoning bears, which pretty much says it all.I'd like to point out that the Sorcerer is not Tier 1; he is Tier 2, and for one very simple reason - he can't be as versatile as the Wizard. The Wizard can prepare anything; the Sorcerer can be good at a lot of things, but his limited spell list requires him to specialize somewhat.

Look at the post I linked, above. The examples of Tier 1 are going to be your "top" magic users. They're also going to be the hardest for a novice player to use. Ironically, being a Tier 1 class means having options, and having options means being overwhelmed. It's entirely too easy to take weak or self-destructive choices instead of powerful or versatile ones, and the ability to choose and use the latter effectively comes with experience. Frankly, if you're still new at playing a caster, you're going to be overwhelmed pretty quickly if you just want to use the "top".

A better idea is to step back and ask, "This is the concept I want to play: What will best enable me to do it?" And that might be a Wizard, Cleric, or Druid - or it might not.

[Fm0684]

Are you familiar with the Tier System (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?&topic=5293.0)? Basically, the Tier System breaks down and ranks classes based upon their versatility. They range from the miserable Tier 6, that can't do much of anything, to the respectable Tier 3, which is capable of doing one thing quite well or several things moderately well, to the gamebreakingly awesome Tier 1, which has the potential to do absolutely anything better than basically anyone else, including a class designed to do that thing, and still has enough specific abilities to completely derail the plot on its own.

Tier 1 is composed entirely of primary casters.

The classic trifecta of Tier 1 is the Wizard, Cleric, and Druid - the latter two referred to as the CoDzilla (Cleric-or-Druid-zilla): The Wizard is able to prepare for any possible scenario. He can learn spells that enable him to overcome any encounter, any skill check, any social scenario and any combat, basically single-handed. He can use spells to melee better than a Fighter, charm better than a Bard, and skillmonkey better than a Rogue. He can use Divination spells to guarantee that he'll know what's coming, and prepare for it accordingly. And if he's ever caught unprepared, he can teleport away to a private demiplane that he created in his spare time to prepare and recover. The Cleric is, very simply, a melee beast. He has comprehensive access to one of the most powerful spell lists in the game, he has a solid BAB progression and can wield the beefiest weapons and armor, he has a plethora of ACFs and PrCs at his disposal, and he can pretty much do what he wants. He can buff allies, wade into combat, annihilate undead, or just use Miracle and break the game. The Druid is the other half of the CoDzilla. He has Wild Shape for melee, Summon Nature's Ally for minionmancy, and a wide assortment of other useful spells and tricks. He can pretty much do anything anyone else can, but as a bear riding a bear while summoning bears, which pretty much says it all.I'd like to point out that the Sorcerer is not Tier 1; he is Tier 2, and for one very simple reason - he can't be as versatile as the Wizard. The Wizard can prepare anything; the Sorcerer can be good at a lot of things, but his limited spell list requires him to specialize somewhat.

Look at the post I linked, above. The examples of Tier 1 are going to be your "top" magic users. They're also going to be the hardest for a novice player to use. Ironically, being a Tier 1 class means having options, and having options means being overwhelmed. It's entirely too easy to take weak or self-destructive choices instead of powerful or versatile ones, and the ability to choose and use the latter effectively comes with experience. Frankly, if you're still new at playing a caster, you're going to be overwhelmed pretty quickly if you just want to use the "top".

A better idea is to step back and ask, "This is the concept I want to play: What will best enable me to do it?" And that might be a Wizard, Cleric, or Druid - or it might not.

That brought things into clarity. Thanks.

Concept. Hmm. I'm simply fascinated with magic. In real life I have studied kung fu for years so I am not as interested as creating a fighter as one would think. Maybe I won't be THE most powerful. But I want to be powerful, and versatile, hard to hit. When my limits are maxed I can depend on something else without heavily relying on it. Lol. I know. I'm frustrating my brothers. I must decide now. I'm playing in a few hours.

[bjoern]

That brought things into clarity. Thanks.

Concept. Hmm. I'm simply fascinated with magic. In real life I have studied kung fu for years so I am not as interested as creating a fighter as one would think. Maybe I won't be THE most powerful. But I want to be powerful, and versatile, hard to hit. When my limits are maxed I can depend on something else without heavily relying on it. Lol. I know. I'm frustrating my brothers. I must decide now. I'm playing in a few hours.


Being that you are a first time caster, I'd recommend you to stick with the sorcerer. As mentioned, playing a wizard , cleric, or druid would likely drown you in options.

Sorcerer is much more manageable and yet still overpowering . After playing the sorcerer for a while you'll begin to get a feel for casting, its strengths, its vulnerabilities, what spells you like , what strategies you like, etc.
Have fun tonite!

[Red Fel]

That brought things into clarity. Thanks.

Concept. Hmm. I'm simply fascinated with magic. In real life I have studied kung fu for years so I am not as interested as creating a fighter as one would think. Maybe I won't be THE most powerful. But I want to be powerful, and versatile, hard to hit. When my limits are maxed I can depend on something else without heavily relying on it. Lol. I know. I'm frustrating my brothers. I must decide now. I'm playing in a few hours.

Short version? Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense. Get a few utility spells, like Fly (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fly.htm) and Invisibility (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/invisibility.htm), (or use the Dragon Wings feat if you can,) and then simply make a Mailman (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1765181). It's a fairly straightforward source of dealing consistent, high damage, with no resists and no saves.

Most importantly, it cuts down on distractions. The typical "God Wizard" basically does everything - he buffs allies, he controls the battlefield, he debuffs enemies, he summons and controls minions, and in his spare time he helps children run lemonade stands. A Mailman Sorcerer is comfortably single-focused - you Deliver The Mail.

It's not the most defensive or versatile build, but then, it really doesn't have to be. As long as you can blow up your enemies before they can reciprocate, you win.

[Fouredged Sword]

In a solo game you will need to be versatile and able to handle a number of situations as they arise.

Really, I would do the following. It is a little complicated and draws from lots of books, but here is is.

Gnome Wizard 4
Feats
Wild Cohort
Shape Soulmeld (astral vembrances)

You start with a nice beefy companion and DR 4/magic. That should help keep you alive while you do your wizard stuff.

For cleric, a necromancer with a elemental twist!
Human cleric 4 (earth (or element of choice), undeath)
Feats - Fell Drain
- Extend spell
- Persist spell

At level 6 pick up Divine Metamagic (persist) and go to town with all day buffs. You can use fell drain to reduce any earth subtyped creature, with your HD or lower, to half your HD. A nice earth elemental to act as a meat shield pairs well with a small swarm of undead. Look up the mineralize warrior spell. It lets you enslave a humanoid, no save, no SR, for a year, and permenantly gives it the earth subtype so you can enslave it forever.

[Fm0684]

Being that you are a first time caster, I'd recommend you to stick with the sorcerer. As mentioned, playing a wizard , cleric, or druid would likely drown you in options.

Sorcerer is much more manageable and yet still overpowering . After playing the sorcerer for a while you'll begin to get a feel for casting, its strengths, its vulnerabilities, what spells you like , what strategies you like, etc.
Have fun tonite!

Yea I think you're right. I looked up quite a few classes for magic and it seems like I should stick to sorcerer. Should I really stick to a kobold though?

[Fm0684]

In a solo game you will need to be versatile and able to handle a number of situations as they arise.

Really, I would do the following. It is a little complicated and draws from lots of books, but here is is.

Gnome Wizard 4
Feats
Wild Cohort
Shape Soulmeld (astral vembrances)

You start with a nice beefy companion and DR 4/magic. That should help keep you alive while you do your wizard stuff.

For cleric, a necromancer with a elemental twist!
Human cleric 4 (earth (or element of choice), undeath)
Feats - Fell Drain
- Extend spell
- Persist spell

At level 6 pick up Divine Metamagic (persist) and go to town with all day buffs. You can use fell drain to reduce any earth subtyped creature, with your HD or lower, to half your HD. A nice earth elemental to act as a meat shield pairs well with a small swarm of undead. Look up the mineralize warrior spell. It lets you enslave a humanoid, no save, no SR, for a year, and permenantly gives it the earth subtype so you can enslave it forever.

Sounds good. But I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I think I'll stick to sorcerer and understand the ins and outs then venture from there.

[bjoern]

Yea I think you're right. I looked up quite a few classes for magic and it seems like I should stick to sorcerer. Should I really stick to a kobold though?

Kobold is a very strong race for a sorcerer. Especially if you take draconic rites of passage, greater rites of passage and loredrake. That will give you +3 caster levels! That's hard to beat!

If you want a less monstrous race, silver brow human from Races of the Dragon is a good choice since it has the dragon blood subtype (like kobold does)

Having dragon blood subtype (or full dragon from dragonwrought) opens up some powerful options for you as a sorcerer .


Edit--for simplicities sake, you could follow the build advice from the mailman link posted earlier. Tweak it a little by taking two flaws at level 1 (flaws are described in Unearthed Arcana) to give you two free feats. Take the loredrake archetype from Dragons of Eberon. Take both Draconic Rites of Initiation, and later take Greater Rites. Take the Ancestral Relic (Book of Exalted Deeds) feat that I posted above. If you're comfortable with all of that look into the Item familiar feat from Unearthed Arcana.

If all this stuff is overwhelming just stick with plain ole mailman. Good luck.

[Fm0684]

Kobold is a very strong race for a sorcerer. Especially if you take draconic rites of passage, greater rites of passage and loredrake. That will give you +3 caster levels! That's hard to beat!

If you want a less monstrous race, silver brow human from Races of the Dragon is a good choice since it has the dragon blood subtype (like kobold does)

Having dragon blood subtype (or full dragon from dragonwrought) opens up some powerful options for you as a sorcerer .


Edit--for simplicities sake, you could follow the build advice from the mailman link posted earlier. Tweak it a little by taking two flaws at level 1 (flaws are described in Unearthed Arcana) to give you two free feats. Take the loredrake archetype from Dragons of Eberon. Take both Draconic Rites of Initiation, and later take Greater Rites. Take the Ancestral Relic (Book of Exalted Deeds) feat that I posted above. If you're comfortable with all of that look into the Item familiar feat from Unearthed Arcana.

If all this stuff is overwhelming just stick with plain ole mailman. Good luck.

Thanks. I'll let him know my intentions, and we'll get this party started. Most likely he'll want me to start another character. I think I'm gonna use your build you suggested a few post back.

[Fm0684]

Kobold is a very strong race for a sorcerer. Especially if you take draconic rites of passage, greater rites of passage and loredrake. That will give you +3 caster levels! That's hard to beat!

If you want a less monstrous race, silver brow human from Races of the Dragon is a good choice since it has the dragon blood subtype (like kobold does)

Having dragon blood subtype (or full dragon from dragonwrought) opens up some powerful options for you as a sorcerer .


Edit--for simplicities sake, you could follow the build advice from the mailman link posted earlier. Tweak it a little by taking two flaws at level 1 (flaws are described in Unearthed Arcana) to give you two free feats. Take the loredrake archetype from Dragons of Eberon. Take both Draconic Rites of Initiation, and later take Greater Rites. Take the Ancestral Relic (Book of Exalted Deeds) feat that I posted above. If you're comfortable with all of that look into the Item familiar feat from Unearthed Arcana.

If all this stuff is overwhelming just stick with plain ole mailman. Good luck.

He wouldn't allow loredrake. And disagreed with the age venerable. Saying if I took that route he would make me face stronger opponents. And my caster level can't be higher than hit die or something.

Grr

[Fm0684]

Thoughts on war mage?

[Fouredged Sword]

War mage is not a very powerful class. It falls in the tier 4 range. Unless you have a helpful DM who will allow you to work around the inherent inabilities of the class, you are stuck.

Here is an idea for a very flexible character who can do most things all at once.

Human
Spellthief 1 / Duskblade 3 / Spellthief 1 / Chameleon 10
Feats - Able learner, craven

You get good skills, and you can fight in melee with channeled spells. Craven +1d6 sneak attack means that when it happens, it hurts. Focus your stats Con > Str > Int > Dex > Cha > Wis. It helps to have a good point buy or roll well.

This is a great setup to try all the different basic 3.5 archetypes. You can pretend to be anything.

Chameleon is where this class

[bjoern]

He wouldn't allow loredrake. And disagreed with the age venerable. Saying if I took that route he would make me face stronger opponents. And my caster level can't be higher than hit die or something.

Grr

Its understandable. He did say powerful though lol. Anyway, if loredrake and venerable are off the table, then dragon wrought is less appealing. I'd still take kobold though. They are small size (+1to hit and ac) they gave +1 natural armor, and still have a 30' movement, and dragon blood.

Follow the mail main build almost to a T.
http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1765181

Ask if he will allow you to take two flaws at level 1. If he does , make your bonus feats empower spell and improved initiative and take sculpt spell all at level 1.
At level 3 take the Item familiar feat from PH2 and make it a ring of protection +1. Invest every skill point in it for the most return. An item familiar gives you a +1 bonus to a skill for every 3 skill points put into it. It also gives you +10% xp, and a bonus spell slot two levels lower than your highest spell level. Once you get higher in levels it gets even better. There is no downside to taking an item familiar, its just profit. Making it a ring allows you to cover it with a glove to protect it from being targeted.

Spend 3000 of your starting gold to say that you went to the Otyguh hole magical location to get the Iron Will feat for free. You'll need this to get into incantatrix.

At level 6 take ancestral relic and make it a custom rune staff. This will mitigate the sorcerers weakness: limited spells known. I posted a link to read up on it above .


Warmage is cute, but I would still leave it at level 6 for incantatrix . Thus leaving before any of its class features. And I feel that the metamagic specialist alternate class featurefor the ssorcerer is better than what warmage has to offer in the first 6 levels.

[Fouredged Sword]

Here is one idea. If your DM will not let you have spellcaster levels higher than your HD, dip another class. A sorcerer 5 / Favored Soul is a nice dip. It allows you to use divine wands and such without UMD. With the greater rite, you don't lose any spellcasting from your sorcerer side. Then you can look into a thurgic class (some early entry tricks required, say versatile spellcaster)

Sorcerer 5 / Favored Soul 1 / Mystic Thurge 10 sounds pretty good for a solo game that you want to avoid prepared casting.

[Gwendol]

Thoughts on war mage?

Very simple spell-casting mechanic (you know all spells on your list and can cast them as long as you have a slot left), but the spell list is restrictive. Going into a PrC that expands the list of known spells (Sandshaper, for example) is a way to mitigate that restriction. There is nothing wrong with playing a T4 class, just as long as you are aware of what you can and can't do. For one, playing a warmage doesn't mean you got the arcane magic side covered in a party. It's more like being in charge of ranged damage dealing, just not using arrows.

[SVamp]

Hi there. I almost never post, but this thread caught my attention.

Frankly, as a novice caster that wants to be powerful, just go Druid. You'll be good at level one, and you'll be awesome at higher levels.

Best of all, unlike a wizard or to a lesser extent even a sorcerer, you don't need to know everything(tm) to make good choices, since unlike those two you get access to ALL Druid spells every level, and if you pick a crappy spell that day, or spells that don't apply, you can convert them on the fly into powerful summon spells, and choose better spells next time.

In addition, you get a powerful animal companion which is at least as powerful as a fighter and levels with you. (Much more powerful if you're allowed a fleshraker as a companion)

Also, there is ZERO cheese involved in any of this. DM doesn't allow fleshraker? Shrug, who cares, bear it is.

Your full power will come online when you're able to shape shift into a fleshraker (or bear..) while still casting all your spells (take natural spell feat at lvl 6) , but you're really powerful since level one.

(Fleshraker is from monster manual iii)

And then you can always add cheese to this if you like.. (Evil grin) - there's just something amusing about a vow of poverty bear as an animal companion. Alas poor bear won't be allowed to own anything, heh. And this is only mildly powerful..

[Fm0684]

Its understandable. He did say powerful though lol. Anyway, if loredrake and venerable are off the table, then dragon wrought is less appealing. I'd still take kobold though. They are small size (+1to hit and ac) they gave +1 natural armor, and still have a 30' movement, and dragon blood.

Follow the mail main build almost to a T.
http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1765181

Ask if he will allow you to take two flaws at level 1. If he does , make your bonus feats empower spell and improved initiative and take sculpt spell all at level 1.
At level 3 take the Item familiar feat from PH2 and make it a ring of protection +1. Invest every skill point in it for the most return. An item familiar gives you a +1 bonus to a skill for every 3 skill points put into it. It also gives you +10% xp, and a bonus spell slot two levels lower than your highest spell level. Once you get higher in levels it gets even better. There is no downside to taking an item familiar, its just profit. Making it a ring allows you to cover it with a glove to protect it from being targeted.

Spend 3000 of your starting gold to say that you went to the Otyguh hole magical location to get the Iron Will feat for free. You'll need this to get into incantatrix.

At level 6 take ancestral relic and make it a custom rune staff. This will mitigate the sorcerers weakness: limited spells known. I posted a link to read up on it above .


Warmage is cute, but I would still leave it at level 6 for incantatrix . Thus leaving before any of its class features. And I feel that the metamagic specialist alternate class featurefor the ssorcerer is better than what warmage has to offer in the first 6 levels.

My brother been playing for 10 years and every time I approach him with an idea he says to stop trying to create an end all be all. He said 10 people could create a character and none would be the same. But many of them would be powerful due to the feats and millions of ways to customize a character.

So I have a sorcerer, feats.. Dragonwrought, sculpt spell , defense casting and something that allows me to use my dex as my strength.

My strategy is similar to what bjoern said. I grease my enemies (last night I had a cave of goblins to clear out. Five against one, I greased the whole cave, called my summoner which is a skeleton, and crossbowed them to death. Lol) then take advantage of their lack of balance. Awesome. I am liking the summoner route so far. Since it is a solo campaign, that's like my companion. And I was told that summons are amongst the most powerful methods in the game. Thank you all.

[Squidfist]

Splash a level of Monk in there perhaps? Dragonwrought stat bumps and kobold natural stat mods coupled with their natural armor can get you quite a high AC when you slap Mage Armor on top of that, and I believe there is a feat that switches the monk's bonus to AC with your Cha modifier instead of Wiz, making your main casting stat also act as armor.

Ah yes, here we go: http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-adventurer--54/ascetic-mage--127/

Just an idea. There are also sorcerer feats that rely on a Dragon heritage somewhere you should check out, as Kobolds are dragon blooded if I'm not mistaken.

[Fm0684]

Splash a level of Monk in there perhaps? Dragonwrought stat bumps and kobold natural stat mods coupled with their natural armor can get you quite a high AC when you slap Mage Armor on top of that, and I believe there is a feat that switches the monk's bonus to AC with your Cha modifier instead of Wiz, making your main casting stat also act as armor.

Ah yes, here we go: http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-adventurer--54/ascetic-mage--127/

Just an idea. There are also sorcerer feats that rely on a Dragon heritage somewhere you should check out, as Kobolds are dragon blooded if I'm not mistaken.

Not really sold on the monk. But thanks

[Fm0684]

Thanks for everyone's input!!