How would you play a equipment-less wizard?

[RoboEmperor]

In all of the following cases, absolutely no equipment, metamagic rods, wands, potions, etc. are allowed.

case 1: all spells are allowed
case 2: only spells that can be cast with eschew materials and spell foci
case 3: only spells that can be cast with eschew materials

No limit on feats, PrCs, race, school specialization, etc.

I know druids can get through a D&D game naked thanks to their wild shape and natural spell combo, but how about wizards?

In each of these cases, how would you play your wizard from levels 1-20?

Some ideas I had was staying polymorphed for long durations to mimic wild shape/natural spell combo (polymorphed creature can speak and has hands), persisted invisibility + displacement and all spells focus on summons and buffs to not break invisibility but this is not possible in case 3 (summon creature needs a focus), in which case one has to rely on planar binding or find some other way to defend him/herself while casting save-or-x spells.

Having such a build would make me feel... more secure i guess? It would give me a plan of action of what to do in these worst-case scenarios, after all, there is no guarantee that every DM would allow ___ source book or allow ___ item to be sold in shops, etc.

edit: Spellbooks are allowed (obviously!)
edit2: removed naked from title, made me uncomfortable

[Eldan]

In response to the title: brazenly and unembarassed :smalltongue:


This will be really difficult. No spellbook? I know there's some way around that, like tattoos and I think there's even a rare wizard variant that can memorize spelsl from, well, memory.

[RoboEmperor]

In response to the title: brazenly and unembarassed :smalltongue:


This will be really difficult. No spellbook? I know there's some way around that, like tattoos and I think there's even a rare wizard variant that can memorize spelsl from, well, memory.

Spellbooks are allowed obviously! And yeah, I know about the tattoo stuff.

[Extra Anchovies]

Wizard 5/Sentinal of Bharrai 3/Incantatrix 10/[something else] 2

Take Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, and Vow of Obedience before 5th level. Surrogate Spellcasting is your 9th level feat. Use a tattoo spellbook (detailed in Complete Arcane) for keeping track of spells, so as not to break the "no possessions" rule. From 8th level onwards, you can turn into a polar bear at will. From 9th level onwards, you can cast spells while in bear form. Why Incantatrix? You'll need MM cheese to make up for VoP.

Even with Vow of Poverty, this should still end up outclassing the rest of the party, unless they're all very high-op.

[RoboEmperor]

Wizard 5/Sentinal of Bharrai 3/Incantatrix 10/[something else] 2

Take Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, and Vow of Obedience before 5th level. Surrogate Spellcasting is your 9th level feat. Use a tattoo spellbook (detailed in Complete Arcane) for keeping track of spells, so as not to break the "no possessions" rule. From 8th level onwards, you can turn into a polar bear at will. From 9th level onwards, you can cast spells while in bear form. Why Incantatrix? You'll need MM cheese to make up for VoP.

Even with Vow of Poverty, this should still end up outclassing the rest of the party, unless they're all very high-op.

Isn't the Vow stuff pathfinder only? I don't want to get into pathfinder at the moment ^^;; I will later because of the summoner class and the no exp cost for building constructs, but I'm still learning 3.5 so... pathfinder = later

edit: I was wrong! Sorry! Awesome, these vows open up a lot of doors to fun characters :D

[Extra Anchovies]

Isn't the Vow stuff pathfinder only? I don't want to get into pathfinder at the moment ^^;; I will later because of the summoner class and the no exp cost for building constructs, but I'm still learning 3.5 so... pathfinder = later

edit: I was wrong! Sorry! Awesome, these vows open up a lot of doors to fun characters :D

They're Book of Exalted Deeds material. And yeah, the vows can be fun. They're usually all pretty poor optimization choices, but when the stated optimization goal is "no items", then Vow of Poverty isn't worth passing up.

[RoboEmperor]

They're Book of Exalted Deeds material. And yeah, the vows can be fun. They're usually all pretty poor optimization choices, but when the stated optimization goal is "no items", then Vow of Poverty isn't worth passing up.

How would you play that character? Would he be a save-or-x wizard? A blaster? Summon focus or buffing? Stick to one of the above strategies and switch to a different strategy when he reaches a certain level, or does it not matter because this build will work with all types of wizard play styles?

[Extra Anchovies]

How would you play that character? Would he be a save-or-x wizard? A blaster? Summon focus or buffing? Stick to one of the above strategies and switch to a different strategy when he reaches a certain level, or does it not matter because this build will work with all types of wizard play styles?

Since the wizard is already a bear, I'd be tempted to go with buffs, but a Mailman-type direct damage build would be hilarious.

[ace rooster]

VOP and Magic jar: you never use your own equipment anyway. :smallcool:

[Karnith]

This will be really difficult. No spellbook? I know there's some way around that, like tattoos and I think there's even a rare wizard variant that can memorize spelsl from, well, memory.
The ACF in question is Eidetic Wizard, from Dragon Magazine #357. It is the cornerstone of the Easy Bake Wizard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?325933-Easy-Bake-Wizard-Handbook), which functions pretty well in a low-wealth environment. A tattooed spellbook is pretty limiting (at least when restricted to your own body) because it only allows a total of about 80 spell levels, I believe.

Once you hit mid-levels, you can start picking up the slack that items would normally provide using long-duration spells. (Greater) Mage Armor and (Greater) Luminous Armor (BoED) provide armor bonuses to AC, Dragonskin (SpC), Spiderskin (SpC), or Alter Self can provide natural armor and additional effects, the Resistance line (culminating in Superior Resistance, from SpC) provide resistance bonuses to saving throws, Heart of Water (CM) gets you Freedom of Movement (and combining the Heart of Xes gives you fortification in addition to the regular effects), and so on.

How would you play that character? Would he be a save-or-x wizard? A blaster? Summon focus or buffing? Stick to one of the above strategies and switch to a different strategy when he reaches a certain level, or does it not matter because this build will work with all types of wizard play styles?
It really doesn't matter that much what playstyle you go with; the loss of items doesn't much affect what options a Wizard has. If you are going no-WBL without VoP, you'd probably want to steer clear of spells that are negated on a successful save beyond low levels, because save DCs will be lower without ability score bonuses from items, but otherwise you'd be pretty much set to do whatever you want.

[RoboEmperor]

A tattooed spellbook is pretty limiting (at least when restricted to your own body) because it only allows a total of about 80 spell levels, I believe.

80 spells, not spell levels. Only 76 if you don't wanna be bald

[Karnith]

80 spells, not spell levels. Only 76 if you don't wanna be bald
No, 80 spell levels (barring something like Geometer). Each body part has skin space equivalent to a certain number of spellbook pages, and last I checked the total was the equivalent of about 80 pages.

[Extra Anchovies]

The ACF in question is Eidetic Wizard, from Dragon Magazine #357. It is the cornerstone of the Easy Bake Wizard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?325933-Easy-Bake-Wizard-Handbook), which functions pretty well in a low-wealth environment. A tattooed spellbook is pretty limiting (at least when restricted to your own body) because it only allows a total of about 80 spell levels, I believe.

Well, once your tattoo spellbook is full, you can always just start scribing spells onto items (a staff can hold 9 levels' worth of spells, for example). Eidetic Wizard would indeed work better, though. The loss of Scribe Scroll is unimportant, and the loss of a familiar can be mitigated with a feat, and then you can take Celestial Familiar as a VoP bonus feat.

ETA:
No, 80 spell levels (barring something like Geometer). Each body part has skin space equivalent to a certain number of spellbook pages, and last I checked the total was the equivalent of about 80 pages.

You are correct about the spell level count. Also, I now want to play a Geometer with a tattoo spellbook, covered from head to toe in weird arcane glyphs. I like this idea.

[AnonymousPepper]

Do note that what I'm going to suggest does require Dragon Mag access, but, for a VoP Wizard, I think if the DM allows the rest of the build, the single template from Dragon 313 would go down just fine.

As usual, it turns out that the best - read: highest-op - answer is "be a dragonwrought kobold."

Seriously.

It's beginning to look like that's the answer to everything, if you think long enough about it and are crazy enough.

This time, do the usual Venerable DW Desert Kobold Sorcerer shenanigans (Dragonwrought Kobold, Kobold qualifies you for the Draconic Rites, Dragonwrought makes you a true dragon, qualifying you for the Loredrake sovereign archetype from Dragons of Eberron, that stuff, although if your DM throws Races of the Dragon and Dragons of Eberron at your face at high speed, they can be skipped; this is just how I'd do it in my high-op games) and then use the Spellhoarding template from Dragon 313.

This is a template for dragons that converts all your sorcerer casting to Wizard casting and allows you to prepare scribe your spells on your scales and prepare and cast from them in lieu of a spellbook.

That plus Eschew Material Components completely negates the problems with casting with Vow of Poverty.

Sure, it's not as elegant as a tattoo spellbook, but, I mean, come on. If you use the Loredrake and Draconic Rite shenanigans, you're three levels ahead in terms of casting compared to equal-level wizards, and that's pretty damn good stuff.

From that point onward, play your wizard as normal. You can even still have decent armor via Greater Mage Armor or Greater Luminous Armor. You're still a tier 1 caster. Enjoy.

Of course, you'll be lacking in +INIT items (Eager Warning gauntlets, Sandals of the Vagabond, etc), +stat items (no headband of INT for you, it's inherents all the way!), and other such useful things (Soulfire/Proof Against Transmutation armor, for example), but such is life with Vow of Poverty.

[Extra Anchovies]

Dragonwrought makes you a true dragon, qualifying you for the Loredrake sovereign archetype from Dragons of Eberron

Nope and nope.

You are a dragonwrought kobold. Your type is dragon rather than humanoid, and you lose the dragonblood subtype. You retain all your other subtypes and your kobold racial traits. Your scales become tinted with a color that matches that of your draconic heritage. As a dragon, you are immune to magic sleep and paralysis effects. You have darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision. You gain a +2 racial bonus on the skill indicated for your draconic heritage on the table on page 103.
Type is Dragon. You are no more a true dragon than, say, a Dragon Turtle. Also, Loredrake and the Greater Draconic Rite of Passage increase effective Sorcerer casting, not just any arcane casting.

The rest of your advice, however, remains valid.

[RoboEmperor]

No, 80 spell levels (barring something like Geometer). Each body part has skin space equivalent to a certain number of spellbook pages, and last I checked the total was the equivalent of about 80 pages.

Right, my bad, I forgot it was 1 page per spell level without geometer. Tattoos are 80 pages compared to the 100page spellbook. 76 pages if you don't want to shave your character bald.

Dragonwrought kobolds huh... I like humans XD. Ah well, wouldn't hurt looking into them i guess

[SinsI]

No, 80 spell levels (barring something like Geometer). Each body part has skin space equivalent to a certain number of spellbook pages, and last I checked the total was the equivalent of about 80 pages.

Can't you increase it using Enlarge Person?

[Extra Anchovies]

Can't you increase it using Enlarge Person?

No, there's nothing about Small wizards having less space, so Large wizards don't have more. I guess... I guess they just have to write really big?

[Astralia123]

With vow of poverty you can beg your cost for scribbling spells from someone else anyway.

[sideswipe]

i think the tattoo variant should be used in conjunction with the spellbook.

you have a main spellbook, and if you lose it or it is stolen your tattoo's are spells that will allow you to locate it, teleport to it and retrieve it.

essentially spell mastery feat bought with money.

[eggynack]

I don't even really understand the question. Aside from the mentioned difficulties of scribing spells, which are either being ignored or reasonably solved with an easy bake wizard build, the way you build an equipment-less wizard is nearly the exact same way that you build a regular wizard. The spells that were great before are still the spells that are great now, or at least a reasonably massive subset of those spells are still great (with the rest knocked off to cost issues).

There's no reason, from what I can see, to say, "Oh, I have no money. That means I naturally slot into this archetype." If you were going to build a BFC wizard, keep doing that now. If you wanted to blast, go right ahead. All of these archetypes remain at just about the same level of viability in the no-cash universe. Yeah, you have to get by without some really powerful stuff, but that stuff was almost always just generically useful rather than archetype specific. So, how do you build an equipment-less wizard from 1-20? However you want to.

[RoboEmperor]

I don't even really understand the question. Aside from the mentioned difficulties of scribing spells, which are either being ignored or reasonably solved with an easy bake wizard build, the way you build an equipment-less wizard is nearly the exact same way that you build a regular wizard. The spells that were great before are still the spells that are great now, or at least a reasonably massive subset of those spells are still great (with the rest knocked off to cost issues).

There's no reason, from what I can see, to say, "Oh, I have no money. That means I naturally slot into this archetype." If you were going to build a BFC wizard, keep doing that now. If you wanted to blast, go right ahead. All of these archetypes remain at just about the same level of viability in the no-cash universe. Yeah, you have to get by without some really powerful stuff, but that stuff was almost always just generically useful rather than archetype specific. So, how do you build an equipment-less wizard from 1-20? However you want to.

Well from most of the threads I've read on wizards, quicken metamagic rods were considered essential to every wizard strategy. Also, someone above mentioned an equipment-less wizard shouldn't go save-or-x because of the lack of ability score bonus gear, so this is the stuff I wanted to know. Wizards with no items are also even more frail than they already are so I was also hoping someone would share how the wizard would defend themselves without items. Someone above also mentioned something like that (AC buffs) though improved mage armor gets on my nerves because of its 100gp cost, like stoneskin.