Best 1st level sorcerer spells for a martial

[martixy]

If a martial character was to gain 1 level of sorcerer spellcasting and did not intent to progress further, say by being a Dragonspawn, what would be the best spells to take for just that 1 level?

Ideas that come to mind:
Enlarge Person (Fits with the flavour and is useful, but I am now a monstrous humanoid, so does it even work on me?)
Nerveskitter
Combat Readiness
True Strike


Relevant info:
Dex 16
Cha 12
UMD is part of the build

[Extra Anchovies]

Fist of Stone (Spell Compendium p. 94) is a +6 enhancement bonus to strength and a 1d6 slam attack with a flat 1-minute duration.

Enlarge Person won't work on you since you're not a humanoid.

Combat Readiness will only have sufficient duration for one fight. Nerveskitter is a superior option.

True Strike isn't worth it if you aren't advancing your casting. You should have attack modifiers high enough to hit without it, and you won't have the spell slots to burn on it anyways.

[nedz]

Expeditious Retreat is good, either the standard or the swift version, because it increases your mobility.
Enlarge Person is also good.

I wouldn't bother with Combat Readiness or True Strike, the first is too marginal and the second only affects one attack.

Other good spells depend on your combat style.

[A_S]

Enlarge Person, sadly, does not work on Monstrous Humanoids.

Nerveskitter is an excellent choice.

I don't find Combat Readiness to be terribly good; when I play, I rarely have the the opportunity to cast it at a time when it'll do much good. But if you find that you have prebuff rounds before most fights in your games, it might be good.

True Strike I don't like if you don't have a way to reduce the casting time. Giving up a round's worth of attacks to make one of your attacks more likely to hit on the next round is just not a good trade-off, action economy wise.

-----

As for others that are nice, Benign Transposition is one I'm very fond of. Color Spray or Sleep would be very strong at level 1, but become bad quickly thereafter, so they might be good choices if you expect the campaign to stay low level, but not if you expect it to go on for a while. If you use a 2-handed weapon, then Fist of Stone is a pretty solid combat buff, giving you an extra attack much earlier than stuff like Haste comes online. Swift Expeditious Retreat isn't bad. Summon Monster 1 has some decent utility uses.

That's about all I can think of.

[martixy]

Yeees...

The current favourites seem to be Fist of Stone and Nerveskitter. I will be using a 2H weapon as well. (And no, I'm not a charger build :smalltongue:. The character has a specific flavor - using a scythe and I'll be going into Dervish later.)

Though.... the DM is home-brew friendly.
I could make a case for Enlarge Person.

[ShaneMRoth]

Top Picks

True Strike

Expeditious Retreat

Shield

Honorable Mention

Jump

Animate Rope

Unseen Servant


Don't forget the 0-level spells


Prestidigitation (to keep armor and weapons clean and in working condition)

Light (because [bleep] darkness)

Ray of Frost (because ranged touch attacks are the [bleep])


Honorable Mention

Dancing Lights (as an alternative to Light)

Orb of Acid (as an alternative to Ray of Frost)

Resistance

[Troacctid]

I would go with spells that you can cast as a swift or immediate action. Nerveskitter is great. Feather Fall, Stand, Blade of Blood, Blockade, and Swift Expeditious Retreat are good too.

You don't need to worry too much about noncombat utility spells because you can get those as wands. You're more interested in spells that you can use to augment your combat abilities without having to skip your attack for the turn, like Blade of Blood, or spells that you'll need to be able to cast in an emergency when you might not have time to pull out a wand, like Feather Fall.

[martixy]

Shield
Damn it. I knew I was missing something painfully obvious.

Don't forget the 0-level spells
Presdigitation is a given.
The others were somewhat character flavour based picks(Light is among them).

Now I'm kind of torn because all 3 spells are incredibly useful and I have only 2 to pick from.
The benefit of going first cannot be overstated.
But neither can +6 Str and a second attack at these low levels.
And being unhittable is also kind of amazing(with the natural AC and the appropriate armor you go from being hard to hit, to impossible).

One way to look at it is a big boost early game vs a solid boost at all levels.

[ShaneMRoth]

I think your CHA give you 1 bonus 1st level spell...

[martixy]

That's true. Spells to cast.

Not spells known though.

[A_S]

Damn it. I knew I was missing something painfully obvious.

Presdigitation is a given.
The others were somewhat character flavour based picks(Light is among them).

Now I'm kind of torn because all 3 spells are incredibly useful and I have only 2 to pick from.
The benefit of going first cannot be overstated.
But neither can +6 Str and a second attack at these low levels.
And being unhittable is also kind of amazing(with the natural AC and the appropriate armor you go from being hard to hit, to impossible).

One way to look at it is a big boost early game vs a solid boost at all levels.
I think Shield is by far the weakest choice. Since you won't be advancing your caster level past 1, both Shield and Fist of Stone will last 10 rounds. +6 Str and an extra attack is much better than +4 AC. Also, once you can afford a buckler or an Animated shield, you'll get a Shield bonus to your AC that doesn't stack with the spell anyway. The bonus Str and natural attack never become obsolete.

[martixy]

Animated buckler could be a valid option for 2H build. Though I don't have power attack. Don't have the feat to spare.

It'd have to be +5 to match the spell, but it could work. That I like the aesthetic of the spell better is a whole another point.

I guess I could just go all-in on the offensive.
And the animated buckler is technically slotless, while a +6 Str item takes a body slot.

[Extra Anchovies]

Animated buckler could be a valid option for 2H build. Though I don't have power attack. Don't have the feat to spare.

You don't have room for Power Attack? What's your build?

[martixy]

Would it surprise you if I said I actually put focus on flavour, not just raw mechanics?

For example in trying to subvert the trope of the BSF. In taking Education + Knowledge Devotion and having Int be my highest stat(pre-templates anyway).

Anyway, DM permitting, I could just ask for Power Attack to be made just a feature of the system (http://theworldissquare.com/feat-taxes-in-pathfinder/) instead of a separate feat.

[A_S]

Also Power Attack is not all that good unless you get the multiplier higher than x2, take Shock Trooper, or have some way to get your AB so high you don't care about the penalty.

[martixy]

Also Power Attack is not all that good unless you get the multiplier higher than x2, take Shock Trooper, or have some way to get your AB so high you don't care about the penalty.

Oh... a single feat invalidating an entire class(Ronin). Sure, why not.

[Hiro Quester]

If you are considering nerveskitter, you might also consider Shock and Awe. If cast during the surprise round then one enemy is -10 to initiative. Your whole party goes first.

The surprise round limitation makes it less widely usable than nerveskitter, but if you get surprise (1/3 of the time? That will depend on your DM and party tactics) it's a huge boost to the whole party. My previous bard character used it a lot.

True strike would be a good pick.

Edit: I forgot about the standard action casting time. You'd only use it when about to surprise an enemy and gave a round to prepare.

Yes, Fist of Stone is pretty awesome. But if you are going to play to higher levels, you might eventually have a +6 strength enhancement anyway. Nerveskitter or shock and awe and true strike will age well.

For 0level, also consider Mage Hand. A minor telekinesis of close range objects up to 5 pounds can be very handy. Message can also be good.

If you are going to take FoS, talk to your DM about the possibility of retraing spell selection later in the character's career, when you have a belt of giant strength.

[A_S]

Oh... a single feat invalidating an entire class(Ronin). Sure, why not.
I mean, I feel like that's more on Ronin (an entire 10-level PrC whose only interesting feature is a worse version of a single feat) than on Shock Trooper.

(See also: Hand of the Winged Masters vs. Darkstalker)

[Extra Anchovies]

I mean, I feel like that's more on Ronin (an entire 10-level PrC whose only interesting feature is a worse version of a single feat) than on Shock Trooper.

Eh. Banzai Charge lets you get an extra +BAB to damage. But Ronin is still a bad class.


(See also: Hand of the Winged Masters vs. Darkstalker)

HotW has some surprisingly good niche uses, especially for skirmish builds. Scout 5/Hand of the Winged Masters 9/Dragon Devotee 4/Unseen Seer 1/Dragon Devotee +1 gets +8d6/+1 skirmish, or +10d6/+3 with Improved Skirmish, and can add +1 point of damage per skirmish die by switching their skirmish damage to fire. Only requires one feat for all those PrCs, too. It works better in Gestalt: Scout 4/Ranger 16//Ranger 2/Cloistered Cleric 1/Ranger +1/Scout 1/Hand of the Winged Masters 9/Dragon Devotee 4/Unseen Seer 1/Scout +1 gets +13d6/+6 skirmish, or +15d6/+8 with Improved Skirmish (again +1 per die by switching to fire damage), and only uses up one more feat than a standard Swift Hunter.

Taking HotW to 10 is never worth it, though.

[holywhippet]

I think Shield is by far the weakest choice. Since you won't be advancing your caster level past 1, both Shield and Fist of Stone will last 10 rounds. +6 Str and an extra attack is much better than +4 AC. Also, once you can afford a buckler or an Animated shield, you'll get a Shield bonus to your AC that doesn't stack with the spell anyway. The bonus Str and natural attack never become obsolete.

If you were taking an unarmored martial class like a monk the mage armor spell would go well with the shield spell as both will help your lousy AC.