[3.5] Need help to build a character based on its "background"

[Isiloki]

Hello!

I'm trying to build a character but I don't have enough DnD background to know what can fit my needs.

I picture my character as a - Loyal Good (can change but not worse than chaotic neutral)- old lazy mage who uses its spells just to make his life easier. Examples : Unseen servant, Animate Rope, Corpse Candle, Dancing Lights to help me carry things without having to do it myself.

In fight he would be a coward because he didn't learn a lot of useful combat spells but would still be able to defend himself if he was in danger. I was thinking of spells like Terra Cotta Warrior/Lion ( = summoning people to fight for him or just taking control of enemies), Gaseous Form/Invisibility ( =easy to hide/escape). He should have no real damage power, at least I don't see him casting a fireball and bringing the attention to him, but much more a magic missile on a 1 hp target.

Questions :

- what class(es) should I pick? Everything that's in the books is allowed.
- what spells in the genre of the one I quoted do you know? Same, every book allowed.

The spell I talked about are just suggestions, they're not set in stone.
He will be a lvl 1 character but if you think of a particular build, feel free.

Thank you!

[Bronk]

I think you could do great as a regular sorcerer... You can be any alignment you want, including lawful good, have high charisma to get along with others, and have a limited spell selection that you could fill with the kind of non-combat things you want.

If you're afraid of getting bored later, I suggest being a regular wizard instead, so that you can get a hold of more useful spells without having to level up first.

[Inevitability]

I think you should ask yourself two things.

1. Will I like playing this character?

Sure, the first few times you teleport away or play dead may be fun, but how long will not being able to effectively contribute to the fight remain fun? Are you certain you could play this character fight after fight without it getting boring?

2. Will the group accept this character?

If all you do is use your spells to escape combat and making a few minor tasks easier, the other players probably won't like how your character acts. Even if they are cool with it OOC, there's the IC issue of the other adventurers dragging someone along who is only slightly more useful than your average mule.


However, there are ways to get the character you want while still being useful. Have you considered building a summoner? You don't have to fight yourself, just buff your summons and hide behind them. It makes sense regarding your personality, but you will definitely contribute to fights.

[Nifft]

So, quick and obvious question: what's so important to this guy that he's willing to risk his life to go on adventures?

(There probably is something, because as a D&D character, he is probably going to go on adventures.)

Being a coward is a very intelligent strategy in a D&D fight. You don't want to be up close & personal. You want exciting things to happen far away from you, and mostly to other people.

Unseen servant is Conjuration. Do you want to be a conjurer / summoner / planar binding guy? That's a fine role, and would help to nail down your foundation.

[Isiloki]

Don't mind the lore, i'm asking pure functionnal question.
I googled a bit, and besides summons monsters there don't seem to be a clear way to play a summoner (it suits what I want)
Summon undead is only for [Evil], and there are only few version of Summon Monsters/Elemental
Are there other spells/feat I'm missing to play a summoner?

[Bronk]

You might want to look into the 'summon ice beast' spells from frostburn, and eventually the planar binding spells as well.

[Nifft]

Don't mind the lore, i'm asking pure functionnal question.
I googled a bit, and besides summons monsters there don't seem to be a clear way to play a summoner (it suits what I want)
Summon undead is only for [Evil], and there are only few version of Summon Monsters/Elemental
Are there other spells/feat I'm missing to play a summoner?
- Early Conjurations are more about damage & control: Grease, Web, and Stinking Cloud are good examples of control.
- Summon Monster becomes a strong and flexible spell starting around SM3 / SM4.
- (Lesser / Greater) Planar Binding is absolutely incredible.

The Sand Shaper prestige class gets access to the Summon Desert Ally spells, which are situationally good (especially on a Sorcerer who gets access to all of them for one caster level).

Take a look through some of the Summoner threads like this one: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255219-The-Summoner-s-Desk-Reference-D-amp-D-3-5

[Grod_The_Giant]

Behold (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=11186)! There's a handbook for this! And also a lovely list of all the summons (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255219-The-Summoner-s-Desk-Reference-D-amp-D-3-5).

Summoning is hard at low levels-- you don't get many spells per day, and the duration stinks. (Especially at level 1, where you're basically trading one of your rounds for one round of the summon's actions). At higher levels, you can pick up Planar Ally/Planar Binding and get super-dangerous toys, with the specialty peaking at Gate (arguably the most powerful spell in the game), but the lowest levels are rough. You can partially compensate by taking Wild Cohort (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) for an animal companion, and/or Cloudy Conjuration* to double up on the effect.

But don't discount it. Summon spells are by far the most versatile in the game-- only the Polymorph line comes close. Each spell has a dozen options, offering combat power, skills, movement modes, spell-like abilities and more. At higher levels you can literally get bonus spellcasters (all those celestials who cast as clerics). And they can't easily be shut down, either. Spell resistance? High saves? Doesn't matter. Worst case, they distract the baddies and take hits that would otherwise have gone to your friends.

Class-wise...

Archivist** has the broadest access to summons-- it can get Summon Monster from the Cleric list and Summon Nature's Ally from the Druid list, and with sufficient effort/cheese can learn practically any spell in the game.
Druid is hands-down the best PHB-only summoner, and even with all books on the table he's arguably still number one. He doesn't get Summon Monster or Planar Ally/Binding by default, although I'm sure there are ways, but spontaneous summoning means your spell slots do double-duty. You get an easily-replaced animal companion for low levels/when you don't want to use spells, a very sturdy chassis, and just, generally, a very versatile and powerful class. If you have access, the Ashbound feat*** makes summons usable much sooner by doubling the duration, while Greenbound Summoning**** applies a phenominally broken template to your summons for free. You might look into the Shapeshift or Swift Hunter variants***** to get rid of your Wild Shape-- keeping track of both it and summoning is a huge chore.
Wizard is always a good choice, but if you use the Conjurer specialist variant****** it becomes phenominal-- spontaneous summoning from level 1, standard-action summons from level 1, Augment Summoning at level 1... that's everything you could possibly want, right there.
Psion is another option. You don't get as many cool utility spells, but you do get Astral Construct, probably the simplest summon option.
Cleric is acceptable, getting Summon Monster and Planar Ally. Plenty of splatbook support, too.
Sorcerer and Favored Soul work, especially if you prefer spontaneous casters. Summons are great for limited list casters, since the individual spells are so flexible.


If you don't want to summon... your best bet for a noncombatant caster is buffs and battlefield control. Throw an Enlarge Person on the fighter so he can keep the goblins away; heal the injured rouge; cast Entangle on the kobolds so they don't bother you. Buffs in particular are an effective way to contribute without being flashy, and can be sort of explained-- "Of course I know Enlarge Person! How else am I supposed to reach the top shelf?"

------------------
*Complete Mage; sicken anyone adjacent to your conjurations for 1 round, no save.
**From Heroes of Horror; it's basically a divine wizard
***Eberron Campaign Setting
****Lost Emperors of Faerun. I'm talking +6 NA and Str, good SLAs, DR 10/magic and slashing, and did I mention you can take the feat at level 1? Watch out for flying DMGs.
*****Player's Handbook 2 and Unearthed Arcana/SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druid), respectively. The first is a weak-but-simple version of Wildshape-- the forms are simple templates and descriptors, but they're useable at will. The latter trades armor and Wildshape for Wis-to-AC , fast movement, favored enemy and tracking.
******Unearthed Arcana, or the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#conjurerVariants).