Picking beginner Sorc spells (Draconic Heritage and Ancestral Relic Runestaff

[JW86]

There are so many!

I am starting a game with a Level 4 Sorcerer, with Draconic Heritage (Prismatic) which grants Color Spray as a spell known, and with an Ancestral Relic Runestaff (which can grant me several more spells of my choosing).

(For thread regarding the char, see here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?415972-Creating-Dragon-themed-Leadership-Wizard-Sorcerer-ideas-needed!))

The trouble is that I'm new to Arcane Casters, and I'm trying to prioritise the right spells for the Sorcerer spells known, as the ones for the Runestaff will undoubtedly be replaced at a later level.

Build will be Sorcerer 6/War Mage 5 (The PrC not the base class)/Sancitified One (1/Zhentarim Skymage 5/Incantatrix 3, with Empower and Practical Metamagic: Empower. The character is a LG Silverbrow Human, looking to set the world to right. Diplomancing, and when that fails, purging evil enemies with holy fire.
Blasting Spells will do +3dmg/die, and with Practical Empower, even low-level spells will be dealing decent damage.

A nice emphasis on Blasting, but also using some BFC, buffing, debuffing, etc.

1st - Charm Person, Color Spray, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Lesser Orb of X, , Sleep, Shield, True Strike, True Casting, Unseen Servant, are all tempting options...
Well - Mage Armor and Shield feel more like necessary burdens than tempting..!

Any suggestions for what goes where? :)

[torrasque666]

The "Spells Known" part of the table only comes into play with Draconic Legacy. Nothing in the Draconic Heritage feat says you get the spells known, only the skill and save bonus. Draconic Legacy says to then add the spells known section.

[GilesTheCleric]

Does an LG character qualify for zhentarim skymage? I'm pretty sure the zhentarim are evil.

[torrasque666]

Does an LG character qualify for zhentarim skymage? I'm pretty sure the zhentarim are evil.
Its one of those tricky "the class doesn't say it requires it, but implied" bits. Seeing as how people will throw it into a supermount build using a paladin, I think people forget that the Zhentarim are mostly LE and NE. Technically, you don't have to be evil to be a zhentarim skymage, but I don't think you can get into good standing with them if you're not.

[Honest Tiefling]

Does an LG character qualify for zhentarim skymage? I'm pretty sure the zhentarim are evil.

If I am reading it right...No, actually. You just need to be in good standing with the Zhentarim, which technically speaking, a spy should be able to do. The problem more lies in that Detect Thoughts is one of the spells needed to join, so other Skymages have access to it for certain. And the Zhentarim really aren't the type of people to care about individual rights, so they might get a little peeved if you won't let the cleric of Bane dig around a bit in your head to check your loyalty.

But with enough spells and a bit of planning, one probably can get around this.

[JW86]

This is a homebrew campaign world, and I am using the class without the Zhentarim fluff. The character came from an old noble family affiliated with Dragons, ala the Targaryens from GoT, and taking Skymage symbolises the character's growing power and ability to use a more powerful dragon mount. I'll talk to the DM about the scrolls you get, but aside from that, we can move on from discussing this for now.

Thank you for clarifying on Draconic Heritage. I was slightly confused at why the spells were included in the chart in the book, and took a very optimistic interpretation!

Coming back to the original point - would anybody have any advice regarding which spells are safer to memorise, and which are ok to go on the runestaff, or into scrolls/wands?

Many thanks.

[dextercorvia]

The spells in the Heritage chart are for characters that go on to take Draconic Legacy (IIRC). For spell on a sorcerer, I like Sticky Floor, Wall of Smoke, Frost Breath (the damage is low, but the daze is nice), Glitterdust, Kelgore's Gravemist, and Slow. I find Sculpt Spell to be amazing at making Sorcerer spells stretch (pardon the pun).

[nedz]

Which spells you choose depends upon what sort of Sorcerer you want to play. Don't try to cover all the options, you are not a wizard, just do one kind of thing well.


Ideally you want spells which have several uses
You also want to be able to target all three saves and be able to cope with SR
You want spells which you can use against multiple targets, and also spells you can use against an individual
At even levels (from 4th) you will know one spell of the highest level, it's a good idea for this to be one you will cast often
You get to swap one spell per spell level (on average) so don't take too many spells you want to dump later


BTW: Colour Spray is an excellent spell at low levels, at 12th level though (the earliest you can grab Draconic Legacy) it's not so great.

[JW86]

To be more specific in that case, I would like to focus on BFC and Direct Damage. May not be the most optimal, but this build will be plenty powerful enough for the campaign.

So, spells to lock them down and destroy them.

1 - Color Spray, Charm Person, Nerveskitter, Lesser Orb of Fire, True Strike
2 - Glitterdust, Web, Scorching Ray, Mirror Image, Wings of Cover
3 - Dispel Magic, Explosive Runes, Chain Missile, Haste,
4 - Black Tentacles, Orb of Fire, Polymorph, Wings of Flurry
5 - Arcane Fusion, Cloudkill, Wall of Stone, Firebrand
6 - Gt Dispel Magic, Mass Suggestion, Superior Resistance
7 - Electrical Storm, Spell Turning, Arcane Spellsurge
8 - Gt. Arcane Fusion
9 - Maw of Chaos, Prismatic Sphere,


Runestaff/Scrolls for:

1 - Mage Armor, Shield, Sleep, True Casting
4 - Solid Fog, Mark of the Enlightened Scroll, Dalamar's Lightning Lance, Gt. Mirror Image
5 - Wall of Force

As a rough sketch, does that sound okay?

[nedz]

Just looking at the lower level spells.



1 - Color Spray[Will], Charm Person[Will], Nerveskitter, Lesser Orb of Fire[Fire-no save, no SR], True Strike
2 - Glitterdust[none/Will], Web[Ref], Scorching Ray[Fire-no save, no SR], Mirror Image, Wings of Cover
3 - Dispel Magic, Explosive Runes[Ref-Force], Chain Missile, Haste,
4 - Black Tentacles, Orb of Fire[Fire-no save, no SR], Polymorph, Wings of Flurry[Ref-Force]

Runestaff/Scrolls for:

1 - Mage Armor, Shield, Sleep[Will], True Casting
4 - Solid Fog, Mark of the Enlightened Scroll, Dalamar's Lightning Lance[Elec-Fort], Gt. Mirror Image


You are trying to cover several bases but you have some overlaps.

Lesser Orb of Fire, Scorching Ray[Fire-no save, no SR] and Orb of Fire[Fire-no save, no SR] are very similar. Also, Fire resistance is more common than any other type.

Color Spray and Sleep are very similar, also I doubt that you will be able to afford a Runestaff or Scrolls at the level when these are still relevant.

Mage Armor and Shield are more gish type spells, you would be better aiming for miss chances. Maybe you are cautious ? You also have Mirror Image and Wings of Cover ? Offence > Defence

No means of flying ?

No get outs ? (e.g. Dim door)

[JW86]

I'll be taking a level in Sanctified One of Kord, granting me the Holy Fire ability to convert Fire damage to Divine damage.

I'll be taking Ancestral Relic feat at Level 3 (I'm starting at Level 4), and will be having a Quarterstaff into Runestaff through that. Although yes I will need some money before improving it.

I'll swap Lesser Orb of Fire to Lesser Orb of Acid.
I'll swap Explosive Runes for Fly..
I'll acquire a Scroll/Wand of Dimension Door, or apply it to the Runestaff
I better take a look at how many defensive spells I have! Thank you.

[dextercorvia]

I would swap Orb of Fire to Orb of Acid, and Lesser Orb to Magic Missile (Incorporeal is a pain). I'd swap Color Spray for Sticky Floor, and then Web for something that targets Fort (maybe Shadow Spray).

[Evan Epis]

BTW: Colour Spray is an excellent spell at low levels, at 12th level though (the earliest you can grab Draconic Legacy) it's not so great.

It's kinda cool having a silverbrow human with 2 flaws and the Dragonblood Sorcerer RSL at 1st level. :smallcool:

[nedz]

It's kinda cool having a silverbrow human with 2 flaws and the Dragonblood Sorcerer RSL at 1st level. :smallcool:

OK - I wasn't assuming flaws but you still have to spend 5 feats.