Insane 3.5 Wizard

[LordOfCain]

I just want to know the ideal stats and stuff for an insane 3.5 wizard. I was thinking half-orc. How low should wisdom be? He is majorly delusional and thinks he is a god. I was thinking stats could be something like what follows: Str: 10, Con: 10, Dex: 9, Int: 16, Wis: 3, Cha: 16. 30 Pointbuy. He would probably specialize in necromancy or illusion.

[Rakoa]

Why such a high Charisma? That seems totally unnecessary given that Wizard's have no need for it. Unless your character concept involves him also convincing others that he is a god (which should be mentioned in the original post), but even that can be much better accomplished with the right spell.

Also, point buy does not allow one to purchase a score as low as 3, nor would I recommend doing it if it did. Your Will save would be so abysmal that little could salvage it, and the tiniest bit of damage or drain would be the end.

[DMVerdandi]

I just want to know the ideal stats and stuff for an insane 3.5 wizard. I was thinking half-orc. How low should wisdom be? He is majorly delusional and thinks he is a god. I was thinking stats could be something like what follows: Str: 10, Con: 10, Dex: 9, Int: 16, Wis: 3, Cha: 16. 30 Pointbuy. He would probably specialize in necromancy or illusion.

1. Being a half orc is going to drop those stats down.

2.for 30 point buy your scores should be
STR:8
DEX:13
CON:18
INT:18
WIS:8
CHA:8



3. I would say either illusion or enchantment. Illusion is going to be the ability to show that insanity to others.
Enchantment would be corrupting others with it. However, Both Transmutation and Conjuration both are great contenders, transmutation with the body horror, and Conjuration with the whole summoning creatures thing.


4.If you COULD, look into the tainted scholar class[and heroes of horror in general].
Now, much of the internet understands this class to be broken in a way, so your best bet is going to your DM and setting some precedents on how the whole thing is gonna work. A house ruled maximum taint score for example.
And if that is too much, you can really just roleplay the crazy without mechanics to go with it.



5.Maybe do some research on psychological disorders. Don't just show up and be like... "I am playing the joker".
Please don't. Do some method acting or something, but so many times someone does the whole "Lol-random" thing and the only mental illness that comes across is a case of the spergs.

Inner conflict is what conveys the character like that.

[LordOfCain]

Why such a high Charisma? That seems totally unnecessary given that Wizard's have no need for it. Unless your character concept involves him also convincing others that he is a god (which should be mentioned in the original post), but even that can be much better accomplished with the right spell.

Also, point buy does not allow one to purchase a score as low as 3, nor would I recommend doing it if it did. Your Will save would be so abysmal that little could salvage it, and the tiniest bit of damage or drain would be the end.

My DM allows me to purchase scores as low as 3 and he does want to convince other people that he actually is a god. What should he specialize in?

[Rakoa]

My DM allows me to purchase scores as low as 3 and he does want to convince other people that he actually is a god. What should he specialize in?

Enchantment would probably be the best bet if you actually want to have a cult of followers. Everyone will do what you want and believe what you say! To get the best bang for your buck, you're gonna want as high an Int as possible (which Half-Orc will shamefully count against) to get the highest save DC as possible, given most Enchantment spells will be allowing them. Spell Focus and the Greater version would also be great ideas.

[Kraken]

You could have him take the mother cyst feat (Libra Mortis), and that could be how he gets "followers" - ultimately feeding his god-complex.

[LordOfCain]

I would not die from having a Wisdom of 0 but would be "withdrawn into a deep sleep filled with nightmares, helpless." So as soon as I recovered a point or the party cleric healed the drain, I would be fine.

[sovin_ndore]

3.5 wizard... majorly delusional and thinks he is a god.
He is a wizard. Is it really delusional to think he is a god (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876)?

[LordOfCain]

What feat should he take??? Core only. I forgot to mention that. Sorry. :/. But besides that all of your answers have been awesome.

[Amphetryon]

If you don't want him to die or start casting against the party, he's going to want Iron Will, given Core-only and a 3 WIS. Personally, I'd reduce the proposed CHA to improve DEX and/or CON; he's already got survivability issues, relatively, and needs his Saving Throws to be vaguely viable.

[Rakoa]

In addition to what Amphetyron has said, and the feats that I mentioned above if going the Enchantment route, I have a few more recommendations that I can make. Before I do, though, I'll need to to define Core as it pertains to your game. I use it to refer to everything and anything that appears on the d20srd, which contains a whole lot of stuff from a whole lot of books, including Unearthed Arcana and that psionic one. Some would tell you that it is just the Player's Handbook, while others point at the Holy Triumvirate of Player's Handbook, DMG, and MMI.

So, what's yer poison?

[LordOfCain]

My poison is the Holy Triumvirate of the DMG, MM, and PHB.

[Rakoa]

Fair enough! I assume you can handle ability scores as you have been. Just remember that the higher the Int, the better. To tailor the build around what you've already presented in terms of insane half-orc with a God Complex, I propose the following build. Keep in mind that this is not optimized, but I assume this is not a priority of yours given your 3 Wisdom and race choice (of which there is absolutely no problem. Low optimization builds can be a blast).

For spell selection along the way, keep to Enchantment spells and Illusion spells mostly, with some various utility from most other schools thrown in (you'll need Divination spells for Loremaster, and some from 5 schools for Archmage, so make sure to grab some of those too. Don't be afraid to drop some coin!). Enchantment will make people like and obey you, and Illusion can trick those same people into viewing you as a mighty and powerful god.

Start with Wizard, obviously. Given your restricted resources for book selection, we'll be making better use of the core feats. I'd start with Iron Will to help a bit with your disturbingly low Will save. The +3 from that and +2 from Wizard should round it off to a more manageable value, and that'll only get better as you continue to level.

From there, keep your Knowledge skills up, along with Spellcraft and Concentration. These should be all you'll need. I recommend that you tailor your Knowledge skills to the party (don't take Nature if you'll have a Druid or a Ranger, stay away from Dungeoneering if a Fighter is around, etc). The only thing I will say is to take Arcana no matter what, because that is the Wizard's schtick.

At third level, take Spell Focus (Enchantment) to increase the save DC against your Enchantment spells. This will be invaluable in bending the mortals to your whim so that they may worship you as the GOD YOU ARE! Of course, you won't be able to pull that off YET...but soon. You get your first (and only) Metamagic feat at fifth level Wizard. I say you make it Extend Spell, to keep the buffs up longer, or to keep your Enchantment effects going for as long as possible. At sixth level, nab Skill Focus in your favourite Knowledge. I'd recommend whichever one has come up the most, or whichever the DM recommends. This will gain you entry to the Loremaster PrC, which is one of two PrCs you'll have available to you due to the source limitations.

It will continue to advance your Spellcasting, which is all you should care about. You'll also get access to several other benefits. You get some (Ex) abilities to find out info about stuff, better skillpoints, bonus languages, and access to Secrets! These can further enhance your Will save (or other saves), unlock bonus spells, and even bonus FEATS (which is amazing!). This is another reason that you'll want to have your Int high, as your Loremaster level plus Int mod determine which secrets you have access to. All you need to do to enter is do as I've said. Pick your Secrets wisely.

Continuing on, take Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment) and 9th level. Somewhere along the way, take an extra Feat as a Loremaster secret for Skill Focus (Spellcraft). At 12th level, take Spell Focus (Illusion) to make your illusions more difficult to see through and to complete the prerequisites of Archmage. This will be where you finish your career, going back to the worse Wizard skillpoints per level but gaining access to some VERY potent abilities. I'd recommend Mastery of Shaping (to more carefully aim your spells), Spell Power (to make your spells even better), and Spell-Like Ability, to turn your most powerful spells into 2/day at-will abilities. No spellbook or components needed. These will permanently consume spell slots, but are more than worth it for the trade-off.

Round off your feat selection with some Metamagic feats and you should be just fine. I'd recommend Quicken at 15th level and whatever you want at 18th based on your personal preference of secondary tactics. When you can't convince them you're a god, what do you do? Blast them? Take Empower. You might even want more Spell Focus.

This build can be modified as you see fit. The feats aren't set in stone by any means, in case you have other ideas. I'd recommend keeping the prestige classes as they are, but even that isn't necessary. Play around with a bit and get inspired. You want the character to be yours, after all, so consider this more of a guideline if anything at all.

Enjoy!

[LordOfCain]

Thank you. I like your idea, but could you give me a specific build instead of detailing the process?? Maybe something like: Wizard 5/Loremaster 10/Archmage 5 or whatever because it is somewhat hard to read in the current format.

[sovin_ndore]

So, trying to compile what you have with what Rakoa posted, you should have roughly:

Race: Half-Orc

Str: 10
Con: 10
Dex: 9
Int: 16
Wis: 3
Cha: 16

Wizard 5/Loremaster 10/Archmage 5

Feats:
1: Iron Will
3: Spell Focus (Enchantment)
5: [Wizard Bonus Feat] Metamagic: Extend Spell
6: Skill Focus (Knowledge: <choose one>)
[Loremaster Bonus Feat]: Skill Focus (Spellcraft)
9: Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment)
12: Spell Focus (Illusion)
15: Metamagic: Quicken Spell
18: <whatever you want>

There is some further advice about Loremaster spell secret selection and Archmage ability selection, but this should condence most of that down to managable.

[LordOfCain]

Wouldn't it be Wizard 5/Loremaster 7/Archmage 8? He says that I take my last level of Loremaster at level 12 so... but thanks anyway.

[sovin_ndore]

Right you are. Sorry, I was having trouble piling through that myself.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Wouldn't it be Wizard 5/Loremaster 7/Archmage 8? He says that I take my last level of Loremaster at level 12 so... but thanks anyway.

Arch mage only has 5 levels...

[LordOfCain]

I was just repeating what the OG poster of that build said.

[Rakoa]

Thanks for the better formatting, Sovin.

I did say to end your Loremaster career at level 12, but that was a bit of a mistake on my part in that you have the option of going into Archmage right away (as I presented) and finish it up afterwards (which I forgot to mention), or finish Loremaster then go into Archmage (which I didn't mention at all). Personal preference, but Archmage is definitely more powerful, and so I'd want to take it sooner. I might delay a few Archmage levels to get access to better spells to make SLAs first, though.