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View Full Version : Geometer: Good, Bad or Something Else?



The_Blue_Sorceress
2007-04-01, 07:53 AM
Hello all,

I was perusing my copy of Complete Arcane yesterday night, and I read over the Geometer PrC again. Now, it intrigued me the first time I saw it simply because I like the picture, but I was wondering -and knew you folks could answer- whether it was actually any good or not. I liked the flavor of it, but I don't know how it would stack up in an average game.

-Blue

I_Got_This_Name
2007-04-01, 10:13 AM
Well, it grants full caster progression, and has better class features than one Bonus Feat for its five levels and Familiar, so, really, the only reason not to take it is if you're taking some other PrC, or want to save your skill points you'd spend on its prereqs.

Also, Book of Geometry is great; take it at least up to there if at all possible.

martyboy74
2007-04-01, 10:17 AM
It won't actively gimp you, but there almost certainly are better things you could be doing with your levels.

JellyPooga
2007-04-01, 10:41 AM
Whilst not being "optimal" in a purely crunch sense, I really like the flavour of the class (especially when comined with the generally-held-to-be-sub-optimal Wild Mage...nothing better than finding someones spellbook and discovering that its not only full of geometry, but completely random geometry).

The Book of Geometry feature is really quite useful if your DM is fond of destroying/stealing/otherwise getting rid of your spellbooks as it's ever so slightly cheaper than normal.

The most frustrating thing about the class, IMO, is that probably the easiest way to get into it is to take a level of Rogue or two (for the skill prerequisites), but doing that makes one of the abilities of the class redundant (namely the Sigil Sight feature or whatever it's called...the one that allows you to find hidden sigil traps or whatever it does)

bosssmiley
2007-04-01, 11:02 AM
I'll echo the above posters. Full caster levels, Book of Geometry can save on spellbook costs - Geometer is flavourful and surprisingly popular even though (or perhaps because) it's not a caster uber-class like Initiate of the Sevenfold Cheese or the 3.5 Incantatrix.

storybookknight
2007-04-01, 01:31 PM
Plus, everybody loves math!

ImperiousLeader
2007-04-01, 03:49 PM
It's not a bad class, I rather like it. Can't do anything really broken with it, which is nice. I'd recommend it for generalist wizards that don't have a strong build focus.

Meynolds
2007-04-01, 03:55 PM
I quite like the class as well, and I created an epic version of it. Realy it is just a continuation of it, but requiring epic level to reach. I posted it on the boards if you want a look at it.

Assassinfox
2007-04-01, 11:30 PM
(especially when comined with the generally-held-to-be-sub-optimal Wild Mage...nothing better than finding someones spellbook and discovering that its not only full of geometry, but completely random geometry)

"Why is this book full of plasma fractals?!" :smalleek:

Solo
2007-04-01, 11:33 PM
There are easier ways of killing people with math; for example, writing out differential equations (calculus).

Kultrum
2007-04-01, 11:34 PM
something else... its neat, good flavor and some fun/ mildly helpful abilities. i'd play it but i hate preparing spells:tongue:

JellyPooga
2007-04-02, 06:40 AM
Something else I remembered about the Geometer class...

Using one of the alternate rules presented in Complete Arcane, a wizard can tattoo his/her spellbook onto their body. The biggest problem with this is that there is only so much space to be tattoo'd and higher level spells take up more space (just as they require more pages in a book). With the Geometer PrC, every spell is only 1 page long, allowing you to tattoo a lot more spells onto yourself than would otherwise be possible...never lose your spellbook again and look kinda creepy with weird tattoos adorning your body? yes please.

The_Blue_Sorceress
2007-04-02, 06:45 AM
Hey everyone!

Thanks for the input. Now I just need to play start a wizard character so I can play one :)

-Blue

Krill
2007-04-02, 10:00 AM
I played a Rogue Modron Geometer briefly. It wasn't an optimised build, but it was very fun. If any race was going to devolve magic into math, it'd be the Modrons...

alchemy.freak
2007-04-02, 10:09 AM
I would say it is interesting, but there is much better stuff.
it is a lot better to give to an NPC who you want to give some character to.
or as a story item, geometry could work. but for the PC's, forget it

Turcano
2007-04-02, 04:24 PM
It's increadibly easy to qualify for (all you need to do is spend some skill points), it cuts down on scribing costs (and perhaps more importantly, space), and anyone who actually manages to jank your spellbook does a double-take when they look at it, plus a few other things that add flavor but aren't very strong mechanically. If you don't have anything else in mind, there really isn't any reason not to take it.

At some point, I'd like to play an archivist//wizard/geometer gestalt just to see how many spells I can cram into a blessed book.

Assassinfox
2007-04-02, 04:33 PM
At some point, I'd like to play an archivist//wizard/geometer gestalt just to see how many spells I can cram into a blessed book.

Would the Geometer's weird spellbook ability apply to Archivist spells? o.O

Turcano
2007-04-02, 04:39 PM
Would the Geometer's weird spellbook ability apply to Archivist spells? o.O

I'm not sure, but I don't see why it shouldn't. A bigger roadblock would be whether spellbooks and prayerbooks have to be separate or not.