Beguiler Gnome

[j_spencer93]

Well my player's character died and now he wants a beguiler gnome.
Templates are allowed and a certain amount of OP is ok. May i have some ideas? What is a beguiler good at? PRCs for it? best gnome races? Feat Suggestions?

[Vhaidara]

Obligatory Handbook Link (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=m4bcer77qitreqb0p6d1kt32u0&topic=2322)

Gnome Beguilers can actually manage the Realer than Reality Cheese, where you make shadow spells that do more damage to people who make their Will Save, because it's more real than reality. I don't recommend going that ham with it, but shadow spells are still crazy fun.

[j_spencer93]

lol i might look into that but would rathe have other ideas first.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Whisper Gnome (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040807a&page=3) in Races of Stone is generally the best choice for gnome races, if you don't need Cha (which Beguiler doesn't need). That's superb at stealth right out of the box, and gets some extremely decent racial abilities.

If he's starting at a high enough level to have already bought off a level adjustment (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingLevelAdjustments.htm), the Dark Creature template from Tome of Magic would probably be your best choice. Your stealth capabilities with this will be completely over the top, so take care not to make a character that the DM can't even pose a credible threat to.

Prestige classes really depend on what you want the character to do. The easiest and most basic route is Beguiler 5/ Mindbender 1/ Beguiler 14, which is generally the go-to for the optimization level of most groups. With the right gimmicks (usually involving a particular feat/race combination) you can go Beguiler 1 into Rainbow Servant or some adaptation thereof, and spontaneously cast the entire Cleric spell list at 11th level. You could go Beguiler 1/ (Spellthief 1)/ Wizard (3) 4/ Ultimate Magus, though you would want to use one of the Human races to get Able Learner in this case, and it's more of a Wizard with tricks than a Beguiler. Most other choices would be better off with more levels of Beguiler over any prestige class.

With Beguiler 5/ Mindbender 1/ Beguiler 14 your 7th+ level Advanced Learning spells can be one level higher, since they fall on an even-numbered character level. Take the feat Versatile Spellcaster in Races of the Dragon and you can spend two spell slots of the same level to cast any spell you know of one level higher. This alone can arguably grant you early access to the next higher level of the Beguiler spell list, and combined with Heighten Spell it definitely grants you this early access, and it also increases your possible Advanced Learning spell choices by another level. If you get Heighten Spell you may as well pick up one or more reserve feats, though you'll want to gain access to additional spells (Arcane Disciple, one of the Bloodline feats in Dragon Compendium) to make use of the better ones. With that Mindbender dip and Versatile Spellcaster early access, your Advanced Learning spells can be 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 9th level, in which case my choices would be Ray of Stupidity, Shadow Form, Greater Shadow Conjuration, Greater Shadow Evocation, and Superior Invisibility. Any character with a Mindbender dip should take Mindsight from Lords of Madness (p126).

Beguilers are generally good at everything but fighting. Their spell list is a toolbox with a solution to nearly any situation they'll ever find themselves in, they get tons of skill points and a huge class skill list, and you don't really need to spend much gold on items to boost your combat abilities so you can get useful stuff like Shax's Indispensable Haversack (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?148101-3-x-Shax-s-Indispensible-Haversack-%28Equipment-Handbook%29), though a Circlet of Rapid Casting (MIC) with an Enhancement bonus to Int added (MIC p234) can be useful, and anyone capable of casting arcane spells can use an Eternal Wand (MIC) and choices like Web and Benign Transposition are pretty good. In combat you have some useful spells, such as Glitterdust and Haste and fog effects, but almost nothing that can actually deal damage apart from nonlethal damage.

Beguiler is actually a superb class to take feats like Vow of Peace and Vow of Nonviolence with, since nothing you do will directly harm your opponents. In that case have a character in the party who has the authority to give captured enemies a trial, sentence, and execution on the spot, similar to Judge Dredd, which gets around the limitations on killing opponents outside of combat.

[Troacctid]

Your typical Beguiler is a great skillmonkey with lots of sneaky magic like illusions and enchantments. They are excellent in social or stealth encounters, and they're excellent at turning combat encounters into social or stealth encounters. When it comes to a straight-up fight, they're not very good at directly attacking enemies, but they can play a support role with spells like haste and slow. They also have a good supply of save-or-lose and save-or-suck effects, but if the enemies are immune or make the saves, the Beguiler won't be very effective. If the fight goes south, though, they're champions at running away, since they can always drop an obscuring mist or the like and/or teleport the hell out of there. It's common for Beguilers to avoid combat completely, preferring to accomplish their goals through more subtle means.

Beguilers are less likely to enter a prestige class compared to other spellcasters, because to do so would usually mean leaving their skill points and class skills behind, damaging their versatility. They have more to lose and less to gain than, say, a Sorcerer. The best prestige classes are ones that expand their spell options. Beguiler/Wizard is a good choice for Ultimate Magus, for example, and Exalted Arcanist is a decent choice for Good-aligned Beguilers.

For feats, Darkstalker is a must-have on stealthy characters, allowing you to avoid being detected by scent and blindsense and other abilities that would normally foil your invisibility. Versatile Spellcaster is fantastic for just about any spontaneous caster, with Beguilers being no exception. Obtain Familiar is an excellent one for Beguilers--familiars share all your skills, which makes them very useful on skillmonkeys. Improved Familiar is likewise useful; imps, quasits, and coure eladrin (Book of Exalted Deeds) are all great. Able Learner is useful if you intend to multiclass or prestige, as it allows you to retain your essential class skills. If you happen to be good-aligned, Vow of Nonviolence gives a very good boost to your save DCs and has little to no drawback, as Beguilers never deal damage anyway.

[j_spencer93]

If this is the route we go i think it will be the shadow casting idea.

[Chronos]

Agreed on the prestige class front. It's nice to take a one-level dip in some PrC or other, to delay your Advanced Learnings to the levels when you get access to a new level of spells, but other than that, you're mostly better off just staying in beguiler, since it basically has the advantages of a PrC already built into the class.

And never underestimate the value of a good illusion in combat. You have to be clever with them, but a single illusion spell can easily change the course of a battle. I'm thinking back to a recent game where an illusory portcullis at one of a fort's two gates turned what was supposed to be a two-front fight into a one-front fight, at the cost of a single first-level slot: Sure, the goblins at the east gate could have just charged right through, but why would it even have occurred to them to try it? So they all went around.

[j_spencer93]

is shadowcraft mage as good as it seems for this build?

[Chronos]

Some prestige classes make base classes better, while other prestige classes define a build, with the entry classes being relatively irrelevant. Shadowcraft mage is mostly in that second category. Yes, it needs to be put on a caster, but pretty much any caster that can cast Silent Image will work equally well. A build isn't so much improved by SCM, as it is replaced by it.

[j_spencer93]

ok i get what you are saying, still it is something i will consider. i noticed it would make the class more of a shadow evocation/conjuration build instead of the beguiler like character