[3.5] Sonic Devastator

[Thurbane]

OK, I'm a huge fan of the spell Great Thunderclap (SC, p.107). Recently had a lot of fun having a Naga use it against my players' party.

It's a third level evocation spell. Two main things I love about it are:
1. Requires one save of each type (admittedly, deafening an opponent is a bit meh, unless they are a caster, but prone os good and stunned is gold!)
2. One of the few Evocation spells that is SR: No

So, how would I build a character around this spell? Wizard? Sorcerer? Warmage?

Basically, what are some good ways to build a blaster/battlefield controller who uses a lot of sonic based spells?

Any other decent Sonic based spells?

Feat suggestions?

Cheers - T

[Fizban]

Well for sonic spells wouldn't it just be Lyric Thaumaturge+ your favorite sonic spell, preferably those with damage over time? I like Discordant Malediction from the same book. Combine with Greater Spell Immunity cast for Discordant Malediction, cast both on self. Every time you cast a spell of any level you explode with boosted sonic damage. The tricky part is getting a reliable source of GSI

There's also Sonic Shield from PHB2, a rare arcane deflection bonus with retaliation damage and knockback. Spell Compendium has a ton: Cacophonic Shield deals more damage but hits then when they approach instead of on the attack. Sound Lance (sor/wis/clr) is pretty popular, it uses d8's and a fort save so it's really hard for most monsters to stop without SR. Love's Lament (bard) has the flavor without a sonic descriptor, does wis damage and nauseates (in a cone!) with a will save and no somatic components, excellent for grapples if you've got the concentration to pull it off. Shatterfloor (sor/wiz) destroys the floor by fiat, for a nice 30' wide patch of difficult terrain on top of standard d4's of sonic damage. Sonic Rumble (sor/wiz) is the better version of the DoT spell from CM you're expected to use with Lyric Thaumaturge, and you might be able to combine LM with Sonic Weapon for a good +3d6 on someone's weapon for minute/level. Don't forget Sonorous Hum (bard/clr/sor/wiz) to do the concentrating for you after you cast Sonic Rumble. Or Cacophonic Burst if you just want sonic fireball.

Bonefiddle and Fugue are pretty cool too, but they're more bard and less sonic destruction.

[BowStreetRunner]

If you can find a way around becoming Dazed then the Metamagic feat Born of the Three Thunders (CArc p.76) can turn a lot of your other sonic spells into something similar to Great Thunderclap.

[Darrin]

Seconding Lyric Thaumaturge for Sonic Might. Bard 6/Lyric Thaumaturge 6 gets to add one 3rd level and one 4th level spell from the Sor/Wiz list. You can add Metamagic Song (Races of Stone) to the usual Arcane Thesis shenanigans.

If retraining, psychic reformation, or Dark Chaos Shuffle is allowed, you can get in early with Favored/Primary Contact (Cityscape) and then do Bard 5/Lyric Thaumaturge 5/Sublime Chord 2/Whatevs 8.


If you can find a way around becoming Dazed then the Metamagic feat Born of the Three Thunders (CArc p.76) can turn a lot of your other sonic spells into something similar to Great Thunderclap.

Quick Recovery (Lords of Madness) gives you a Will save to shake off the daze as a move action. Add Iron Will (Otyugh Hole), Cumbrous Will (Savage Species), and the Dream domain (via Planar Touchstone) to ignore the shaken condition.

Or how about great thunderclap every single round, whenever you like?

Race: Illumian
Wizard 15/Loremaster 3
1: Earth Sense
3: Silent Spell
5: Heighten Spell
6: Earth Spell
9: Still Spell
10: Quicken Spell
12: Improved Sigil (Krau)
15: Sanctum Spell, Skill Focus (Knowledge)
18: Extra Slot, Innate Spell (Complete Arcane version)

[Nifft]

Chameleon can do some pretty brutal stuff with [Sonic] spells, since they can dip into Bard / Druid (for Creaking Cacophony) and Sorc/Wiz (for direct damage on top of that).

On the other hand, a straight Sorcerer could grab Infernal Sorcerer Howl (feat from PHB-2), which is not entirely terrible if you expect trouble up close. Good synergy with a Bard or Druid, that.

[The Viscount]

Not technically a sonic, but one of my favorite low level sound spells is Buzzing Bee, which is a no save -10 to move silently, and counts as distraction for concentration. At low levels it can cause some real havoc.

Sonic snap's the classic because it's low level for adding metamagic like aforementioned born of three thunders.

Body Harmonic is Bard only, but it's straight up amazing if you can get it on your list, use Sonorous Hum to keep it on while you do other things.

[nedz]

I looked at this a little about a year ago

Sonic Sorcerer Spells by level
Level 0
Sonic Snap 1 Will or Deaf for 1 rd
Level 1
Bonerattle One creature with bones 1d4/[5] Fort half
Sonic Blast One creature 1d4/2[5] Will or Deaf for 1d4 rds
Orb of Sound, Lesser 1d6/2[5]
Level 2
Dissonant Chant 100' radius, 1 rd/ Disrupts casting
Ironthunder Horn 30' cone Reflex or fall prone
Shatter
Sonic Weapon +1d6 sonic
Level 3
Great Thunderclap 3 saves: Stun,Deaf,Prone
Resonating Bolt 60' line 1d4/[10] can shatter
Shatterfloor 15' rad 1d4/[10] reflex half, difficult terrain
Sound Lance One creature 1d8/[10]
Level 4
Orb of Sound 1d4/[15] Fort or Deaf 1 rd
Shout 30' cone 5d6 + Deaf 2d6 rds Fort half + neg
Level 5
Cacophonic Burst 20' rad 1d6/[15] Reflex half
Cacophonic Shield 10' rad barrier
Channeled Sound Blast variable cone dependant upon casting time
Resounding Thunder 20' rad 5 rd duration 4d6 + deafened
Shrieking Blast 40' rad 8d6+Perm + Deafness Fort half + 1 rd
Sonic Rumble 30' cone 1d6/2[10] Dur C, up to 1 rd/

I didn't bother going beyond this level. The ones I liked.

Ironthunder Horn - mass trip. Good low level BC
Shatter - This is a well known spell
Great Thunderclap - You've already mentioned
Shatterfloor - damage + BC