Sorcerer, 3.5, needs some guidance.

[DMDorakeen]

Hi everyone. First post here though I've been reading for years. Curt, short sentences because I'm posting this from mobile.

I coordinate/run a game that runs on 3.5 with some 3.0 flavor and some house rules of my own devising.

My players -
Fighter - ragey and an occasionally lovable ass.
Wizard - crafter and thinking of ways to work monk style hand to hand into his repertoire.
Fighter - tactician and more if a lawful good/honor for honor's sake type.
Ranger/scout - addicted to gambling but good at his job (arrows).
Sorcerer - halfling with a freak strength of 12 (good nat rolls).

Everyone works well together. Their rp is amazing. I'm the most veteran tabletop gamer amongst them, so I was selected as DM two years ago when we began. All 30ish professionals with access to just about any supplement we need or are interested in.

My question -

The party just hit 9. The sorcerer is putting out some good damage (not quite near the wizard yet). Recently the party embarked on a rescue mission that saw them separated and searching for the hostage. The sorcerer lucked out and found him, though he was guarded by a torturer of fairly incredible melee prowess. It was a level 10 melee npc class (I think I used a warrior or expert template.) The players knew he was alone, but their characters played it straight. In the ensuing fight, it was only poor saving throws on the npc's part that saved the sorcerer from likely death. The rest of the party eventually caught up to him and they curbstomped the npc. He was saved by timely luck.

Since then, that player has been asking me about ideas for helping to give his character a bit more defense and survivability in combat. He runs with shield/mage armor for most fights. The question becomes - does he want to multiclass, spend time and money on magical protection, etc? I don't want him to fall behind from the rest of the party. And I understand he may just have to accept that he is going to be squishy and get used to it.

I know that's a lot of questions and not just one. Any comments welcome.

[Doctor Awkward]

Well the short answer is no he absolutely does not want to multi-class to anything that will hamper his sorcerer casting if he wants to remain effective as a spellcaster.
How well he can defend himself largely depends on what sources you make available to you and your group.

The first solution is that the sorcerer shouldn't stand in melee combat, since he doesn't belong there. I get that he was alone, but that is another problem. You never split the party. At the very least, you split into pairs so no one ends up alone.

As a sorcerer he also has access to the Wings of Cover, a second level spell from Races of the Dragon that provides total cover against a single attack as an immediate action, effectively negating the attack.
Mirror Image is also a much more effective defensive spell, as is the Displacement line of spells, since a miss change will keep him much safer than just a high armor class. And a miss chance with Mirror Images is even more effective.

If he really wants to mix it up with melee for some reason, he right has access to 4th level spells. If he hasn't already, next level let him swap something out for Polymorph as a spell known. The brokenness of this spell has been greatly discussed in the past, but the short version is that he can simply turn into something that is suitable for melee combat.

If he doesn't want to give up his spellcasting, and wants to become a more traditional melee spellcaster, the Abjurant Champion prestige class from Complete Mage is worth looking into.

[HammeredWharf]

He has a few options, with most of them boiling down to either playing rocket tag or building solid defenses. Rocket tag means winning the initiative and using an encounter-changing spell in the first round of combat. That could be a nuke, but also a game changer like one of the fog spells, Wall of Stone or Black Tentacles. Black Tentacles is especially notorious in that level range and wins most encounters almost by itself. As for winning the initiative, there's this (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6000.0).

Defensive spells are more complicated and have the downside of being very "selfish". In other words, they only help yourself. However, he should definitely have some sort of defenses. The Heart of X spell line from Complete Mage should be a good start. They last long, are good and give extra bonuses if used together. He should also have some swift action teleports to get out of sticky situations. Anklet of Translocation from the Magic Item Compendium is a good and really cheap item, but by level 9 he could also have some teleportation spells and Panic Buttons from Complete Scoundrel. Ring of Counterspells (Dispel Magic) helps in keeping those buffs active.

He could also use Polymorph + Scintillating Scales, but that's usually OP.

Edit: the poster above mentioned Mirror Image, which is a good spell. Greater Mirror Image is even better, especially due to its Immediate Action activation.

[(Un)Inspired]

Have him learn the Polymorph Spell. It's only fourth level so he should be able to cast it already. Just let him retrain one of his current spells known.

He should instantly become the most combat competent character in the party.

[DMDorakeen]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've directed the player towards this thread. I had thought of a couple of these suggestions, but it's good to see some seasoned minds taking the time to reply. Thank you very much, folks.

[Asrrin]

Alter Self and Wings of Cover are great defensive tools. Going for a Crucian or Trogolydyte gives a huge plus to natural armor, and wings of cover is a great way of saying "NO" to many ways of getting hurt.

[Dolour]

mirror image...
nothing says "nope" like a crapload of indistinguishable target dummies.
add displacement to that and you shouldnt have to worry about guys tryin to hit you with pointy sticks anymore.

allso fatespinner and some of the church stuff from compelte champion allows you to force an opponent to reroll
and go with the worse roll(just in case).

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The spell Wings of Cover from the book Races of the Dragon deserves the strongest possible recommendation. Wings of Flurry from that same book is also an exceptional choice.

The Ancestral Relic Runestaff (www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?267805-Sorcerer-Handbook#4) trick is also worth mentioning. It can be an Elvencraft (Composite) Longbow from Races of the Wild, which counts as both a quarterstaff and a bow. It needs to be made masterwork three times, but it should also be able to have three wand chambers from Dungeonscape in it. Note that the Rules Compendium clarified that spell trigger and spell completion items such as wands, staffs, and scrolls have activation times identical to the casting time of the spell contained, so a Wand of Wings of Cover is still an immediate action to use, as long as he's holding it.

Alter Self is one of the most versatile spells available. It can be used to gain a swim, burrow, or fly speed, a huge natural armor boost, various types of senses, skill bonuses and bonus feats, etc. Obligatory handbook link (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=343.0).

That about covers it, other than improving his tactics. He shouldn't be spending an action in combat to cast Shield when he could instead use that action to cast Web or Black Tentacles or similar to prevent multiple opponents from attacking him at all.