The Secret Spellcaster - Beguiler Build Help

[Dell_the_Engie]

The Question: My idea for this character is that he passes as an ordinary aristocrat. No noticeable arcane gestures and utterances, no rummaging through a bag of newt eyes and wasp wings, no terrifying the city block with big flashy spells, and if he's carrying magic swag, no auras. If it's possible, I want be both effective and discrete. Any suggestions for spells, feats and metamagics, items, or tricks? Anything would be appreciated.

The Premise: I'm rolling up a level 3 character for a campaign that will take place in a big city environment. It's going to be a very social campaign, complete with secret groups, political intrigue, and conspiracy, but there's little doubt that some of this roleplay will culminate in bloodshed, and possibly even war. My character is a Beguiler, a bookish type in his early 30s, and the head of a house of unscrupulous aristocrats. The nation has undergone a serious change in recent years; magic, historically forbidden and reviled, is now permissible by licensed practitioners, under heavy restrictions. The kind of magic my Beguiler practices, however, is without a doubt illegal, and potentially punishable by death. While this will hardly slow his ambitions, he'd prefer to keep up a mundane appearance.

The Facts: He's a level 3 Human Beguiler, and his ability scores break down as follows:

10 STR
14 DEX
10 CON
16 INT
12 WIS
15 CHA

This is based on a stat array that all player characters in this campaign must use. I can rearrange the scores if needed, and I can spend 5 "Character Background" points to give 1 point to any ability score. I have 10 expendable "Character Background" points. Other rewards include +4 Skill Points in a chosen skill (1 CB point), make a cross-class skill a class skill (2 CB points), gain an extra feat (3 CB points), and +4K gold (4 CB points).

Though my Beguiler will lack damage capability, he's loyally guarded by his bodyguard player, a Rogue/Fighter, and has connections to the military through an officer player, a Samurai.

[Karl Aegis]

There is no reason not to have at least 14 constitution.

[Dell_the_Engie]

Do you mean to say, given the stat array, you would prioritize Constitution over Dexterity or Wisdom, or potentially over Charisma? How would you arrange the array optimally?

[Troacctid]

If magic is heavily restricted, that means very few people should be able to discover and counteract what you're doing. You need to know who those people are. Get access to the list of licensed magic practitioners. Figure out what sort of spells they have access to. There will be government records of this sort of thing; find them and memorize them. (Take cross-class ranks in Autohypnosis for this purpose.)

It's fairly trivial to make your magic undetectable by mundane means. Still Spell, Silent Spell, and Eschew Materials, and there you go, nothing to see here. You can also conceal your spellcasting with a Sleight of Hand check. But against observers with access to magic, there are all sorts of divinations that could easily reveal what you're doing. So it's vital that you know which people have access to those divinations.

[Bane-Wordsmith]

as far as stats go, assuming you're stick with those numbers, I would recommend getting rid of Wisdom, no idea what you need that for as a Beguiler, put it into Con for sure.

You get Still Spell and Silent Spell as class features, so unless you want them sooner, I wouldn't take them as feats. Eschew Materials gifts them theme of hiding your meet eyes and wasp wings, though mechanicaly it doesn't really affect your game so I'm always lothe to take it.

Blood Magus, from Complete Arcane, could be an interesting. Blood component removes material components, and you can hide scrolls on your skin an potions in your blood. Just wear long sleeves to hide the scars. As long as you can convince your DM to let you miss those preq feats, they are terrible.

Definitely look at Cityscape, there's a few nice meta-magic feats and urban spells, but it's also a good read for playing in an urban environment.

[Troacctid]

As long as you can convince your DM to let you miss those preq feats, they are terrible.

As a DM, I would definitely not allow that. Blood Magus is full casting for the first four levels and effectively gets three bonus feats (Eschew Materials, Scribe Scroll, Brew Potion) plus a caster level boost. Those are supposed to be paying you back for the entry feats, and the class is balanced around that assumption.

Given that you have spontaneous access to your entire class spell list, I feel like you wouldn't have much need for scrolls and potions anyway, at least not the ones you could craft yourself. So you might as well just take Eschew Materials.

[Dell_the_Engie]

If magic is heavily restricted, that means very few people should be able to discover and counteract what you're doing. You need to know who those people are. Get access to the list of licensed magic practitioners. Figure out what sort of spells they have access to. There will be government records of this sort of thing; find them and memorize them. (Take cross-class ranks in Autohypnosis for this purpose.)

That's pretty brilliant, actually. These are the kinds of ideas I need to start having, as a Beguiler player.

Your assumption should be correct; with heavy regulation, there's going to be heavy documentation, and my character should know it well. Unfortunately, Autohypnosis is not an accepted skill (although it's a pretty great skill!), but perhaps my character can just secretly copy down the information in the documents. Or, he could always take out the Forger's Paper, Focus Candle, and Forgery Kit, and leave a nice copy for the registrar, keeping the originals for himself, in case at any point he needs to forge them again, with possible amendments. These will be quite handy to have, as it will provide me a list of people to treat with caution. Optimally, the documents will be detailed enough to show me what magic they're trained in, or at least where they're receiving their training.

Of course, my Beguiler isn't the only secret spellcaster. This is a big city, after all! Others have likely chosen to unlock the forbidden secrets of magic, whether for its unparalleled utility, or precisely because it's forbidden. And there certainly exists a black market for magic items and equipment; incidentally, my Beguiler's family manages most of the merchant trade. Anyway, these individuals are not going to be documented, but they may be valuable to know about. They also probably stand little to gain for outing a fellow caster if they happen to see one. Still, I have a sense that "Misdirection", or possibly "Nystul's Magic Aura", will be a routinely used spell.

[atemu1234]

There is no reason not to have at least 14 constitution.

With anything in this game. Ever.

[Jack_Simth]

Let's see... you don't have 2nd level spells, yet. There's a feat to fix that from Races of the Dragon: Versatile Spellcaster: It lets you take two spell slots of one level to cast a spell you know of the next level up. As you're a list caster, you know all he spells on your list. So you could cast the occasional invisibility ... or the occasional Silent & Stilled Detect Magic.

Prestidigitation is a fun spell. Especially if you want to frame someone as a magic user.

[Mr Adventurer]

Complete Scoundrel has a skill trick to let you hide spellcasting. It also has a PrC to let you use it more than once per encounter, though you have to suck down losing a spellcasting level. It's the Uncanny Trickster.

[Lathund]

People have already mentioned Still Spell and Silent Spell. You might want to add Arcane Thesis to the mix, to negate the increase in spell level. However, that's only worth it if there are one or two spells you plan to cast a lot, such as Silent Image.

Play close attention to the Misdirection spell you get next level btw. It can make magical items look nonmagical.

I wouldn't recommend buying better stats btw. Instead, buy three feats. Given the choice between one feat or two stat points, I'd choose the feat. You, however, can choose between three feats or two stat points. That's just ridiculously good.

[ShurikVch]

There are also Sudden Silent, Sudden Still, Automatic Silent Spell, and Automatic Still Spell

Adventure "The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde" have Dark Scholar PrC.
1st level of this PrC skip caster level, but, if you have Knowledge (History) 14, you may select Book of the Stilled Tongue: all spells of 2 (or more) levels lower than your maximal spell level, cast without verbal component

Also, Deceptive Spell (Cityscape): http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/images/Cityscape_Gallery/101097.jpg

[Rusvul]

I'm assuming that you're unable or unwilling to change your choice of class, or that Beguiler in specific will be particularly useful... But I feel it's worth mentioning that psions don't have to do anything but think to activate their powers. It would certainly be easier to conceal psionics... Although the flavor might not be right if magic is banned.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Invisible Spell might be worth picking up. No level adjustment, and your spells have no detectible manifestation.

[Scorponok]

Your assumption should be correct; with heavy regulation, there's going to be heavy documentation, and my character should know it well. Unfortunately, Autohypnosis is not an accepted skill (although it's a pretty great skill!), but perhaps my character can just secretly copy down the information in the documents. Or, he could always take out the Forger's Paper, Focus Candle, and Forgery Kit, and leave a nice copy for the registrar, keeping the originals for himself, in case at any point he needs to forge them again, with possible amendments. These will be quite handy to have, as it will provide me a list of people to treat with caution. Optimally, the documents will be detailed enough to show me what magic they're trained in, or at least where they're receiving their training.

You can also look into the Amanuensis spell from Spell Compendium and Magic of Faerun. It's basically a photocopy spell.

I make a newspaper for my players, and they once asked how it got distributed without a printing press, and this was the answer.

[Psyren]

As Troacctid mentioned, you can conceal your spellcasting from onlookers via Sleight of Hand; see Rules Compendium or Races of Stone for details. If you optimize your check high enough, you won't even need metamagic for most things, plus Sleight can come in handy in urban campaigns in other ways too.

[Mr Adventurer]

Wow, that makes the Skill Trick completely worthless doesn't it?

[Psyren]

Wow, that makes the Skill Trick completely worthless doesn't it?

Basically, yeah. And it's not like they came out at the same time or anything either - RoS debuted years before.

[Dell_the_Engie]

You might want to add Arcane Thesis to the mix, to negate the increase in spell level. However, that's only worth it if there are one or two spells you plan to cast a lot, such as Silent Image.

Play close attention to the Misdirection spell you get next level btw. It can make magical items look nonmagical.

I wouldn't recommend buying better stats btw. Instead, buy three feats. Given the choice between one feat or two stat points, I'd choose the feat. You, however, can choose between three feats or two stat points. That's just ridiculously good.

I hadn't thought of Arcane Thesis, but I'll definitely keep it on my radar. I can't take it for now; I have to be at least level 6 to qualify, but by then, I'm sure I'll have found "that one spell" that I'll love to cast often, and silently. I'm also looking at Misdirection next level to suppress auras, and, always with the potential to frame others. I'll have to see if my DM actually allows the purchase of three bonus feats, because it really is "ridiculously good", but if so, you better believe I'm taking that. Six feats by 3rd level? Yeah, I think I can make this idea work.


There are also Sudden Silent, Sudden Still, Automatic Silent Spell, and Automatic Still Spell

Adventure "The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde" have Dark Scholar PrC.
1st level of this PrC skip caster level, but, if you have Knowledge (History) 14, you may select Book of the Stilled Tongue: all spells of 2 (or more) levels lower than your maximal spell level, cast without verbal component

Also, Deceptive Spell (Cityscape)

Sudden Metamagic can be nifty in a pinch, but I think that what they provide for a feat slot is usually not worth it, and I think that's going to be especially true for a Beguiler. Automatic feats are going to be epic, and Dark Scholar will only be useful 8 levels from now, and it's also really obscure, which means it's unlikely with my DM. Still, I appreciate that you're looking and suggesting. Deceptive Spell doesn't seem like a necessity, but its implications could be both hilarious and exceedingly devious. I'll keep it in mind.


I feel it's worth mentioning that psions don't have to do anything but think to activate their powers. It would certainly be easier to conceal psionics... Although the flavor might not be right if magic is banned.

Psionics is a system neither used in this campaign, nor one I am at all familiar with, but thanks for the suggestion.


Invisible Spell might be worth picking up. No level adjustment, and your spells have no detectible manifestation.

Hi Grod, I've got your "Best Feats" thread bookmarked! I'm definitely looking at Invisible Spell, at least for concealing visible effects, the only trick being that I need another metamagic feat to qualify if I'm looking to get it before 6th level. I'm looking at a few possibilities, including Enlarge Spell, Coercive Spell, Retributive Spell... that's about all I can think of that would be good for my Beguiler.

[Mr Adventurer]

Don't you get Silent Spell (or Still Spell, I forget) as a bonus feat at 5th?

[ShurikVch]

Innate Spell (Player's Guide to Faerûn variant) - lose one spell slot, and gain spell as SLA 3/day
SLAs doesn't require verbal or somatic components (but, in this particular case, still need focus)

[Dell_the_Engie]

You can also look into the Amanuensis spell from Spell Compendium and Magic of Faerun. It's basically a photocopy spell.

I make a newspaper for my players, and they once asked how it got distributed without a printing press, and this was the answer.

Looks like a cool little cantrip, but alas, that isn't accessible for me. Clever idea though, thanks.


As Troacctid mentioned, you can conceal your spellcasting from onlookers via Sleight of Hand; see Rules Compendium or Races of Stone for details. If you optimize your check high enough, you won't even need metamagic for most things, plus Sleight can come in handy in urban campaigns in other ways too.

Interesting, I read the sections in Rules Compendium and Races of Stone. While the opposed skill checks look the same as "Conceal Spellcasting", success doesn't specifically protect you from attacks of opportunity or counterspells the way that the skill trick does, it only disguises the act of casting the spell. Granted, common sense dictates that a spellcaster can't counter a spell that they don't know has been cast, but that still leaves attacks of opportunity. It might seem silly, but there only few instances in which Sleight of Hand is mentioned in the context of combat. Considering that casting would normally provoke an attack, without any specific language, one is left to make some assumptions. Another part of the Rules Compendium muddles this further; Sleight of Hand is a skill that involves movement, which can provoke an attack, but what kind of movement that is, and how much movement is involved, determines whether or not it does. So, does using Sleight of Hand in this way, without the benefit of the skill trick, provoke an attack of opportunity? This is probably a question for another topic, but I'll run it by my DM and come back with her answer.


Don't you get Silent Spell (or Still Spell, I forget) as a bonus feat at 5th?

Silent at 5th, Still at 10th. But, I'll likely already have at least one metamagic feat before this. It does make my life easier, though. Just something to keep in mind, since we're starting at 3rd level, even though we'll probably progress pretty slowly, I can expect Silent spell two levels from now.


Innate Spell (Player's Guide to Faerûn variant) - lose one spell slot, and gain spell as SLA 3/day
SLAs doesn't require verbal or somatic components (but, in this particular case, still need focus)

What's this? A variant of Innate Spell that doesn't have three prerequisite feats and doesn't shoot the spell level through the roof? A spell-like ability 3 times per day for the low, low cost of one slot at the same spell level? It makes the most sense to take this at 12th level, since my class grants me both prerequisites at 10th level, but I'll keep it in mind when I get there. For now, I'm looking at my options as a 3rd level character. Thanks though for that little gem.

[Psyren]

success doesn't specifically protect you from attacks of opportunity or counterspells the way that the skill trick does, it only disguises the act of casting the spell.

Spells like Battlemagic Perception suggest you need a way to perceive the spell being cast in order to counter it though. And if you don't know you're in combat (i.e. the guy next to you is hiding their spellcasting before initiative is rolled) then you don't get an AoO because that is a combat action. You might be able to whack them if you're already in combat though.


Another part of the Rules Compendium muddles this further; Sleight of Hand is a skill that involves movement, which can provoke an attack, but what kind of movement that is, and how much movement is involved, determines whether or not it does.

This does not follow - another use of Sleight of Hand, drawing a hidden weapon, also involves movement - yet it specifically does not provoke. So you cannot conclude "movement + skill = provoke."

[Dell_the_Engie]

Spells like Battlemagic Perception suggest you need a way to perceive the spell being cast in order to counter it though. And if you don't know you're in combat (i.e. the guy next to you is hiding their spellcasting before initiative is rolled) then you don't get an AoO because that is a combat action. You might be able to whack them if you're already in combat though.

This does not follow - another use of Sleight of Hand, drawing a hidden weapon, also involves movement - yet it specifically does not provoke. So you cannot conclude "movement + skill = provoke."

Okay, so Battlemagic Perception supports the assumption that one can't counterspell what they can't see, that's pretty intuitive. And yes, I think a lot of the spells my Beguiler will cast will either be entirely out of combat, or before combat has started, which will be particularly helpful for his Cloaked Casting feature. And in combat situations, it's safe to assume the only person standing in threatened squares will be his bodyguard. But it still leaves the question unanswered, and I think it's a good one, because based on the answer, either "Conceal Spellcasting" is useful, or it isn't.

Now, let's make one thing clear: the act of drawing a hidden weapon is not a use of the Sleight of Hand skill; Sleight of Hand can be used to conceal a weapon in the first place, but no skill check is made in the act of drawing it. And the fact that drawing a hidden weapon does not provoke an attack isn't exceptional, either. Indeed, in this regard, it's no different from drawing a weapon normally. And even if, hypothetically, drawing a hidden weapon was a use of the Sleight of Hand skill, the specificity of the language would seem to point to an exception, not the norm. Otherwise, one would expect the same language, when making the rules of using Sleight of Hand with spellcasting. As far as I have read, the only instance in which attacks of opportunity are mentioned with actually making a Sleight of Hand check, is with the "Conceal Spellcasting" skill trick. As for the awful vagueness of, "Skills with movement may or may not provoke attacks of opportunity," this isn't my idea, this comes from the Actions in Combat table in the Rules Compendium. Believe me, it leaves me scratching my head. The Rules Compendium, of all things, can't be bothered with thoroughness and specificity, when it comes to using skills in a threatened square.

[nedz]

as far as stats go, assuming you're stick with those numbers, I would recommend getting rid of Wisdom, no idea what you need that for as a Beguiler, put it into Con for sure.

Why does a Beguiler need Wisdom: Arcane Disciple.

Probably the easiest way for a Beguiler to increase their spells known and take on different roles.
You can take it multiple times too.

I'm not sure if both Arcane and Divine magic are illegal in this setting but posing as a cleric is quite easy for a Beguiler.

[Dell_the_Engie]

Why does a Beguiler need Wisdom: Arcane Disciple.

Probably the easiest way for a Beguiler to increase their spells known and take on different roles.
You can take it multiple times too.

I'm not sure if both Arcane and Divine magic are illegal in this setting but posing as a cleric is quite easy for a Beguiler.

Thank you for bringing this up. I've thought about Arcane Disciple a lot, but it always comes down to the stat array I must work with, and I hate the idea of becoming dependent on several ability scores. Wisdom is also a prerequisite for some pretty awesome feats, and for Beguiler, that includes Combat Charm, and Shadow Weave Magic, with prerequisite scores of 13, and 15, respectively. If I'm going to take advantage of any of those feats, though, I need to think about how to best reorganize my array. It's also important to keep in mind how these feats do or don't help with my goal of maintaining a mundane pretense. Combat Charm and Shadow Weave Magic provide power to my spells, but Arcane Disciple can provide a set of tools normally inaccessible to my character, depending on the domain.

[nedz]

Thank you for bringing this up. I've thought about Arcane Disciple a lot, but it always comes down to the stat array I must work with, and I hate the idea of becoming dependent on several ability scores. Wisdom is also a prerequisite for some pretty awesome feats, and for Beguiler, that includes Combat Charm, and Shadow Weave Magic, with prerequisite scores of 13, and 15, respectively. If I'm going to take advantage of any of those feats, though, I need to think about how to best reorganize my array. It's also important to keep in mind how these feats do or don't help with my goal of maintaining a mundane pretense. Combat Charm and Shadow Weave Magic provide power to my spells, but Arcane Disciple can provide a set of tools normally inaccessible to my character, depending on the domain.

With standard WBL you can usually afford the relevant stat buff items which means you can get away with 13 Wisdom — so you could put your 12 here and get away with it. This might be a problem if access to magical equipment is limited in your campaign as you would ideally want to purchase a +2 Wisdom item at level 5 — which is a tad early even in standard WBL games. A wand of Owl's Wisdom could tide you over though. Of course, this assumes that you are not interested in the save DCs of your domain spells.

[Dell_the_Engie]

With standard WBL you can usually afford the relevant stat buff items which means you can get away with 13 Wisdom — so you could put your 12 here and get away with it. This might be a problem if access to magical equipment is limited in your campaign as you would ideally want to purchase a +2 Wisdom item at level 5 — which is a tad early even in standard WBL games. A wand of Owl's Wisdom could tide you over though. Of course, this assumes that you are not interested in the save DCs of your domain spells.

So, my starting gold is 2,700 GP, which I guess is appropriate for starting a 3rd level character. I don't know how my DM plans to advance wealth as the game goes on, however. In our previous campaign, we always had very little gold for our level, but then we'd suddenly run into a great abundance of magic items, as plunder. This meant our actual wealth was probably somewhat adequate, but we never had the privilege of the "Magic-Mart". Now, in this campaign, my character's family manages most of the merchant trade in the country, and is therefore one of the wealthiest families in the country. Realistically, my financial resources are probably pretty good. I also know that there exists a black market for magic items in the city. Whether my DM will actually grant me this wealth is another matter of course, so for now, it might just be safest to assume, we're working with wealth-by-level, and right now, I have 2,700 GP.

As for Save DCs, that really depends on the domain I'm choosing, and therefore, the spells. The god that looks good for my character is Nithtriant; the alignment matches up, and the domains are Knowledge, Law, Protection, Travel, and War. Bear in mind, however, that the spell list should either contribute to my character's discrete abilities, or, can be made discrete with the appropriate feats.

[Troacctid]

I usually like Bloodline feats better than Arcane Disciple. It's just fewer hoops to jump through, and you can cast the spells more than once per day.

[Jack_Simth]

I usually like Bloodline feats better than Arcane Disciple. It's just fewer hoops to jump through, and you can cast the spells more than once per day.
... and they use your standard save DC.

They're found in Dragon Compendium.

[Dell_the_Engie]

I usually like Bloodline feats better than Arcane Disciple. It's just fewer hoops to jump through, and you can cast the spells more than once per day.


... and they use your standard save DC.

They're found in Dragon Compendium.

Another good find, thanks! I actually hadn't noticed the limitation with Arcane Disciple, and that's really important. Since each spell can only be cast once per day, to me, the spell list absolutely must provide some essential help in a pinch, or provide a lasting benefit throughout the day. Along with the fact that relying on two scores for spellcasting is rather unappealing, the limitations further dissuade me from taking the feat, as much as I've thought about taking it. I haven't really given Bloodlines a look, since I just get a gut feeling that it's not something my DM will go for without some big justification. Now I have to explain, "No, really, Aldram's great great grandfather was married to a Serpent, I'm telling you!" That effectively gives me as big a hoop to jump through as the straightforward numerical hoops of Arcane Disciple. But the potential benefits of a bloodline spell list are hard to dispute. I'll give it a look, and if I find something really good, I'll see what the DM has to say. Again, though, this should be kept with regard to what's going to help with my essential concept.

[Troacctid]

I think in general, you should be primarily using your skills. You're a Beguiler, so you have a metric crapton of skill points and a great class skill list. Most of the time, using magic at all is going to be an unnecessary risk.

When you do use magic, you should try and make sure that nobody observing you is also a magic-user who could detect that you're doing so. Besides getting access to the list of registered magic-users, I highly recommend taking the Vatic Gaze feat at level 9. It allows you to determine with a Sense Motive check (DC 5 + their caster level--no sweat) whether someone is capable of casting spells, and if so, what level spells they can cast. It also lets you detect magic at will, which will tell you if they have any spells active. Extremely useful. And before you get to level 9, you should still detect magic before you cast any other spell--it only takes 6 seconds, and if anything pings, that information could save your life.

If you're going to work any mischief, use Disguise to hide your identity first. Bonus points if you manage to frame one of your rivals. Even more bonus points if you also use Forgery to falsify evidence against them. (Forgery is great because it's opposed by a Forgery check, so hardly anyone can recognize it.)

[ShurikVch]

If we speaking about feats to expand your spell list, there are also Corrupt Arcana, Improved Oneiromancy (HoH), Cerebrosis (Dr#330), and Wormbound (Dr#343)

[Dell_the_Engie]

I think in general, you should be primarily using your skills. You're a Beguiler, so you have a metric crapton of skill points and a great class skill list. Most of the time, using magic at all is going to be an unnecessary risk.

You're right; magic is always risky, and I've got 60 skill points by level 3, so my primary focus is to utilize those skills, and play intelligently. For Aldram's character, what I'm mostly interested in, is using the Beguiler spells and abilities, and Advanced Learning, to complement the use of his skills. Using divinations to pry into private conversations, or into private thoughts, using compulsions when honeyed words simply aren't enough, using glamers to enhance a disguise, conceal his presence, or throw off a magical aura. That's the idea. Aldram isn't just a secret spellcaster, he's also preoccupied with discovering the secrets of others, and using them to his advantage. When it comes to facing an assailant, if Aldram uses magic at all, it should be invisible, either by the spell's design, or by metamagic, and should hinder the attacker, or assist his bodyguards, so that they can finish the job with pure mundane muscle. For a mischievous ambush, he could use Deceptive Spell, attacking one target while setting the blame on another. To this end, I'm curious if there's a particular spell available to Advanced Learning, either 1st or 2nd level, that stands out among others. I'm looking around, myself.

At 6th level, instead of Surprise Casting, I'm thinking about doing the ol' Mindbender dip, for at-will telepathy, and Mindsight. The benefits of Mindsight are terrific, but I don't quite know what's possible once I possess telepathy. I think Vatic Gaze looks perfect for Aldram, since I'm sure that Detect Magic will be used fairly often, and being able to discern the "power level" of other casters could be indispensable. My Warlock character, Malek, made use of his Detect Magic ability very frequently.

Again, thank you for the tips and suggestions.

[ShurikVch]

Pump your Bluff sky hight, then, if somebody accuse you in spellcasting, say you are totally innocent :smallwink:
Note: you may add your Int to Bluff checks via Rapscallion [regional] feat, or 1 level dip in Mountebank (or Disciple of Baalzebul)

[WeaselGuy]

With regards to Mindbender/Mindsight @ 6th level, I thought this was one of those unspoken class features of the Beguiler, kind of like Natural Spell @ 6th for a Druid...

[Dell_the_Engie]

Pump your Bluff sky hight, then, if somebody accuse you in spellcasting, say you are totally innocent :smallwink:
Note: you may add your Int to Bluff checks via Rapscallion [regional] feat, or 1 level dip in Mountebank (or Disciple of Baalzebul)

Absolutely, Bluff is a maxed skill for him. Even if he wasn't constantly lying through his teeth, just the synergy bonuses alone are too good to pass up. Rapscallion is a little more tempting than dipping CS Mountebank, if only that Mountebank has a prerequisite feat of its own, and so it would seem somewhat wasteful, unless I was making some kind of focused "Lying Bastard Build". I'd also prefer to keep my casting progression without missing a beat, if I can help it. If I'm really in a pickle, Glibness is on my spell list. I'd consider taking Alibi, even, but given the limitations of Advanced Learning, I'm sure there's better options to choose from.

I should add, Dragon Compendium also has a Mountebank, and it's a base class. One of their abilities denies a target their Dex bonus to AC (check), and debuffs their Will save (double-check) and Sense Motive skill (triple-check). At 3rd level, this can be used as an AOE in a 30-foot radius with a maximum range of 130 feet. And it's even called Beguiling Stare! It sounds highly complementary, but unfortunately, the class is mostly not-very-good.

[ShurikVch]

And it's even called Beguiling Stare!
If you interested in "Beguiling" puns, Warlock and Dragonfire Adept have invocation "Beguiling Influence".

Also, you may take Beguiler (Magical Beast from Shining South) as Improved Familiar from 7th level. Constant undispellable True Seeing...

And, of course, Beguilement domain from Dragon #312: cast compulsions at +1 CL; 3 spells which are usually not on Beguiler spell list - Enthrall, Modify Memory, and Otto's Irresistible Dance. You may try to get it via dip in Contemplative or Divine Agent; or Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment) + Arcane Disciple