A strange request.

[Yogibear41]

Okay, so this is going to sound crazy, but I have a strange request: I need a good prestige class for a divine caster that LOSES caster levels.

No wait let me explain.

So due to a particular set of circumstances in the campaign this particular caster will likely never be able to cast Divine spells higher than 5th level (and may even get stuck at 3rd or 4th level for awhile)

To make a long story short, its based on how divine magic works in our game, and I more or less did this to myself by having this character worship what it worships.

The Character CAN use higher level slots to prepare lower level spells as normal, and MAY also be able to use metamagic'd versions of lower level spells in higher level slots such as a Maximized Flame Strike in an 8th level slot (this is a big maybe)

I'm not specifically trying to lose caster levels, I just view it as if I can't cast the spells anyway, why not try to grab some other nifty abilities.

I am looking for a class that can grant me other awesome abilities to make up for the loss of the ability to cast higher level spells. Class abilities that function as SLAs or SU abilities will bypass this because they aren't technically spells. For example the Shaper of Form from the Dragon Compendium gains the ability to use Polymorph any object, normally a high level spell, as a SLA, which in this case the character would be able to use. Nar Demonbinder would also work well for this character, because while they cannot cast higher level divine spells, they Could cast high level Arcane spells. (For roleplay/story reasons I can't just make this character a wizard instead, they need to have divine casting ability)

I am looking at using either a cloistered cleric or an archivist(spell level reducing shenanigans will be tightly monitored, could probably swing something like a 1 level reduction from the cleric list, such as a 1st level lesser restoration per paladin, or a 4th level flame strike per druid, but not huge reductions) as a base class starting point.

The character will be LE, and the Ur-Priest prestige class is banned, pretty much everything else is allowed even 2nd/3rd party.

[tiercel]

Ordained Champion (Complete Champion) probably fits “worth losing caster levels for” anyway, plus if you’re already LE.

If you’re looking to dump caster levels and want to build on OC as Fightan Cleric, there’s Warpriest (Complete Divine), which normally is unimpressive but gives you some abilities and partial casting with full BAB.

Alternatively, multiclass, e.g Shadowbane Stalker (Complete Adventurer)....

[ExLibrisMortis]

LE? That's perfect.

Cleric 4/crusader 1/ordained champion 5/prestige paladin (of tyranny) 3/ruby knight vindicator 7. Simple, effective, powerful.

This build gets +19 bab, 14th-level cleric casting, Divine Grace, extra swift actions, maneuvers, auto-quickened War domain spells (flame strike, yes!), and a bunch of other nice class features. Throw in Practiced Spellcaster and maybe Battle Blessing. Worship Wee Jas.

Technicalities:
1) LE Ordained Champions are meant to worship Hextor. The church of Wee Jas is definitely an organization that would have Ordained Champions, though.
2) Prestige paladins do not natively come in LE variants. The paladin of tyranny is only a couple of pages up, though, so the combination is natural.

[Fizban]

Ordained Champion bears repeating: if you're allowed to qualify (it's written for Hextor/Heironeous only and is built around the War domain), nothing else will come close. Failing that, Sanctified one has some nifty stuff, and even the Mythic Exemplar and Squire of Legend have abilites much more attractive when you don't care as much about the casting, but all the Complete Champion stuff is tied to it's own fluff that probably doesn't align with whatever it is you're worshiping. As are many, if not most other divine PrCs.


Fortune's Friend gives you a pile of rerolls and skill points, normally spurned by casters for losing 3 levels.
Warpriest is pretty terrible, but it does gest Mass Heal as an SLA 1/day at ECL 14, also Hero's Feast, Haste, and full BAB, with half casting.
Doomguard is also pretty terrible, but it gives you a Disintegrate eventually.
Visionary Seeker lets you copy a spell you've seen in the last day as an SLA (limited by your class level), more uses as you level, with half casting as the drawback to make it forgettable.
Master of Shrouds only loses one caster level, but has SLAs to summon incorporeal undead, which is enough for a whole class.
Sapphire Heirarch, Eldritch Disciple, and Mystic Theurge are all theurges.
Prestige Paladin loses a fair number of caster levels, and replacing it with the other alignments is common enough. Racial Paragon classes are hardly worth losing caster levels, normally.

And of course you could just use fighter/rogue/whatever without PrCs at all.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I'd suggest mystic theurge. Also cerebremancer and mind mage. Combine them. Wizard 1 with Precocious Apprentice/cleric 3/mystic theurge 4/ardent 1/mind mage 10/cerebremancer 1?

Also, heirophant.

[Calthropstu]

Mystic theurge might be the way to go here.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I would recommend against Mystic Theurge/Psychic Theurge/Cerebremancer alone, because they do not have any class features--they are strictly for entering or extending other dual-casters.

Mind Mage is, as always, a great choice, but it is not a cleric-friendly class, and I would not recommend it for any divine caster. You can do something like illumian (improved krau sigil) wizard 1/cleric 1/ardent 1/mystic theurge 2/mind mage 10/psychic theurge 5, which gets you 11th-level wizard casting, 7th-level cleric casting, and 14th-level ardent manifesting, but (a) it's not really possible to even them out, due to varying prerequisites and Mind Mage's non-divine-advancing nature, and (b) it's not really more powerful than a simple arcane/psionic Mind Mage.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I would recommend against Mystic Theurge/Psychic Theurge/Cerebremancer alone, because they do not have any class features--they are strictly for entering or extending other dual-casters.

Mind Mage is, as always, a great choice, but it is not a cleric-friendly class, and I would not recommend it for any divine caster. You can do something like illumian (improved krau sigil) wizard 1/cleric 1/ardent 1/mystic theurge 2/mind mage 10/psychic theurge 5, which gets you 11th-level wizard casting, 7th-level cleric casting, and 14th-level ardent manifesting, but (a) it's not really possible to even them out, due to varying prerequisites and Mind Mage's non-divine-advancing nature, and (b) it's not really more powerful than a simple arcane/psionic Mind Mage.I wasn't worried about advancing cleric beyond 4th level spells, since that's his upper limit. And if he takes Supernatural Transformation (Psionics), he can have 20th level ardent manifesting by level 20.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I wasn't worried about advancing cleric beyond 4th level spells, since that's his upper limit. And if he takes Supernatural Transformation (Psionics), he can have 20th level ardent manifesting by level 20.
The maximum is 5ths, with a likely hold-up at 3rds and 4ths. However, higher levels still grant additional slots, and those are not something to give up easily.

Supernatural Transformation won't increase your manifesting, or do much of anything valuable, but even if you rule that it does, it's so awfully cheesy that you might as well go Beholder Mage or something.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

The maximum is 5ths, with a likely hold-up at 3rds and 4ths. However, higher levels still grant additional slots, and those are not something to give up easily.Versatile Spellcaster, perhaps? Convert wizard slots into cleric slots.


Supernatural Transformation won't increase your manifesting, or do much of anything valuable, but even if you rule that it does, it's so awfully cheesy that you might as well go Beholder Mage or something.ST grants you ML = HD, at least while transparency is in play; it also prevents AoOs for manifesting and makes your psionics undispellable; and since your ardent manifesting is based entirely on your ML, feel free to purchase as many Wis boosters as possible for extra pp (yay owl's insight), as well as plenty of manifestations of psychic chirurgery for higher level powers.

[ExLibrisMortis]

ST grants you ML = HD, at least while transparency is in play; it also prevents AoOs for manifesting and makes your psionics undispellable; and since your ardent manifesting is based entirely on your ML, feel free to purchase as many Wis boosters as possible for extra pp (yay owl's insight), as well as plenty of manifestations of psychic chirurgery as you can for higher level powers.
It doesn't do any of those things, since Supernatural Transformation--if it could at all affect ardent manifesting--would apply to the meta-ability Psionics (Sp), not to individual powers or mechanics. You would be someone with the supernatural ability to manifest powers at ML 14 (18 with Practiced Manifester), with so many pp, powers known, and so on.

[noce]

Void Disciple comes to mind having fun mechanics.
Acolyte of the Skin is also a flavorful kind of evliness.

Walker in the Waste loses two caster levels and it's VERY good even under normal circumstances.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

It doesn't do any of those things, since Supernatural Transformation--if it could at all affect ardent manifesting--would apply to the meta-ability Psionics (Sp), not to individual powers or mechanics. You would be someone with the supernatural ability to manifest powers at ML 14 (18 with Practiced Manifester), with so many pp, powers known, and so on.Psionics is explicitly an inherent psi-like ability; the text flat-out says so. There's zero ambiguity there. None at all. As such, Supernatural Transformation (Psionics) forces your ML to equal your HD, and you gain all the other qualities that supernatural abilities receive, as well, in regards to your shiny new Psionics (Su) ability. That encompasses everything you do wth psionics, including the manifestations of individual powers. They'd still be subject to power points and powers known, of course, since those are overridden even on the (Ps) versions but otherwise...


Psi-Like Abilities (Ps)
The manifestation of powers by a psionic character is considered a psi-like ability, as is the manifestation of powers by creatures without a psionic class (creatures with the psionic subtype, also simply called psionic creatures).

Simply put, psionics is the art of tapping the mind’s potential. A psionic character is blessed with a form of innate ability that enables him or her to use mental power to achieve goals or perform tasks that nonpsionic characters can accomplish—if they’re even capable of doing them at all—only by using gross physical skills

[ExLibrisMortis]

Psionics is explicitly an inherent psi-like ability; the text flat-out says so. There's zero ambiguity there. None at all. As such, Supernatural Transformation (Psionics) forces your ML to equal your HD, and you gain all the other qualities that supernatural abilities receive, as well in regards to your shiny new Psionics (Su) ability. That encompasses everything you do wth psionics, including the manifestations of individual powers. They'd still be subject to power points and powers known, of course, since those are overridden even on the (Ps) versions but otherwise...
That's a common mistake, yes.

1) Supernatural Transformation affects only spell-like abilities. Psi-like abilities are not spell-like abilities.
2) There is no ability called Psionics, whether (Sp) or (Ps), to use Supernatural Transformation on*.
3) The rules for manifesting and augmenting powers are declared within the Psionics subsystem. Making the entirely subsystem supernatural does not affect the rules declared within. For example, psi-like abilities do not have XP costs. Clearly, some powers declare XP costs. Those power descriptions take precedence over the general (Ps) ability properties. If you apply Supernatural Transformation to Psionics as subsystem, you don't change the exceptions, only the general case, which will, in all cases, be overwritten by specific psionics rules.



*Except for a few instances of the Psionics (Sp) ability, which emulate spells, and generally don't involve psionics in any way (the EPH allows them to count as psi-like abilities "for all intents and purposes", but they still count as (Sp) abilities, and they still emulate spells).

[Nifft]

Man, wouldn't it be neat if Psionics were a single ability.

Hello, Ability Focus? I'm calling on behalf of every Psion.

[Telonius]

Eldritch Disciple seems like it would be a good pick. The goodies you get from theurging Warlock aren't spells. Eldritch Blast can stand in for some of the higher-level Cleric offensive spells you won't be getting.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

That's a common mistake, yes.I don't think quoting the rules is a mistake. That word does not mean what you think it means.


1) Supernatural Transformation affects only spell-like abilities. Psi-like abilities are not spell-like abilities.That's what transparency is for. And if that's not enough for you, the Magic Mantle says hello. It's especially nice since I suggested the ardent.


2) There is no ability called Psionics, whether (Sp) or (Ps), to use Supernatural Transformation on*.Monster and character entries say hello.


3) The rules for manifesting and augmenting powers are declared within the Psionics subsystem. Making the entirely subsystem supernatural does not affect the rules declared within. For example, psi-like abilities do not have XP costs. Clearly, some powers declare XP costs. Those power descriptions take precedence over the general (Ps) ability properties. If you apply Supernatural Transformation to Psionics as subsystem, you don't change the exceptions, only the general case, which will, in all cases, be overwritten by specific psionics rules.Specific (the feat) vs general (the psionics rules). The feat overrides how the basic psionics rules work. Otherwise, feats wouldn't work at all. Neither would powers, for that matter.


*Except for a few instances of the Psionics (Sp) ability, which emulate spells, and generally don't involve psionics in any way (the EPH allows them to count as psi-like abilities "for all intents and purposes", but they still count as (Sp) abilities, and they still emulate spells).And they're perfectly good RAW targets for Supernatural Transformation.

[Venger]

while supernatural transformation does obviously apply to psionics for the above reasons, if op's gm is banning something as tame as ur-priest, supernatural psionics will probably also not be allowed in the game.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I don't think quoting the rules is a mistake. That word does not mean what you think it means.
...really? Obviously, the mistake is that the conclusion follows from those rules quotes, not the quoting itself.


That's what transparency is for.
No, it's not. Transparency does not give you blanket permission to replace magic-y words with psionic-y words. It very specifically has the following consequences:

Spell resistance is effective against powers [...]
power resistance is effective against spells [...]
spells that dispel magic have equal effect against powers [...], and vice versa.
The spell detect magic detects powers [...]
Dead magic areas are also dead psionics areas.
The Magic mantle allows you to treat 'magic and psionics as identical'. That refers to the fundamental powers called 'magic' and 'psionics'. Since the default assumption is that psionics are already (a form of) magic, the difference between (Sp) and (Ps) abilities isn't fundamentally reconciled by the Magic mantle, and the mantle has no bearing on whether you can use Supernatural Transformation on psionics.


Monster and character entries say hello.
I'm going to need quotes on that, I can't examine every monster for references. For what it's worth, example characters in CPsi don't have a Psionics ability.


Specific (the feat) vs general (the psionics rules). The feat overrides how the basic psionics rules work. Otherwise, feats wouldn't work at all. Neither would powers, for that matter.
Uh, no. Where do you even get the idea that feats would somehow break if we apply the specific versus general rule?

The feat--if you allow it to work--overrides the baseline properties of psionics, which are in turn overwritten by specific psionics rules. For example, if there were an ability within the psionics subsystem that does not specify how it interacts with an antimagic field or dispel magic (none exist, since that is covered by a blanket statement about psionics, but for the sake of the argument), you would look to the (Ps) rules. If your psionics were supernatural, you would look at the (Su) rules.

If you were to override the specifics of psionic rules with the generic (Su) traits, you would lose literally everything about psionics. You would override the save with 10 + 1/2 HD + CHA. You would override the ability to apply metapsionic feats (they don't work on (Su) abilities). You would override the ability to learn new powers, increase your manifester level, or recover power points. All psionics would require a standard action to activate, and the use limit would be in limbo.


And they're perfectly good RAW targets for Supernatural Transformation.
Quite, but they won't get you supernatural manifesting, because, for example, they explicitly don't use power points, you don't get to learn new powers, and so forth. It'd work exactly as Supernatural Transformation on, say, a racial feather fall would work.

[Yogibear41]

Some nifty suggestions, but a few points.

Classes like Heirophant would be great if I could qualify.

Any Deity specific prestige class will likely be a no go in this case, as well as any class that requires you to worship a deity in general (more on this later)

Psionics is NOT magical in our campaign.

Ur-Priest is banned not for its power, but for its flavor, or DM despises the thought that a mortal could siphon/steal power from a deity.

While multiclassing into an arcane/psionic class would indeed increase the character's overall power, I would prefer to try and stick to divine spellcasting only for the sake of the character's story/role-playing.

This character is actually going to be an NPC Cohort obtained by the leadership feat, and I would prefer it to be caster oriented as opposed to melee oriented.

All that being said to kind of let you know about what is going on, here is a little more info:

Basically we follow a set of rules similar to how divine spells worked in 1st edition.

1st and 2nd level spells could be cast based on a character's training alone, thus requiring no deity/god/etc.

3rd, 4th, and 5th level spells could only be granted by a servant of a deity, or for our purposes an Outsider.

6th and 7th level spells could only be granted by an actual deity. (there were no 8th and 9th divine spells in 1st edition)

What I have is a half-fiend character who is attempting to ascend to become a deity. Followers of said character can cast 1st and 2nd level spells based on their training as normal. My DM has also told me that it would be possible for my character to more or less draw power from his fiendish ancestory to eventually be able to grant spells as an outsider would (therefor up to 5th level, with adequate power.) So eventually this NPC might be able to cast 6th level spells and up, but my character will essentially have to become a god first which likely won't happen until very high levels(if I can even manage to pull it off at all)

[tiercel]

Background is good to have, but I’m not sure how caster-focused the character can be with roughly half casting and not having arcane magic as well. Entropomancer (Complete Divine) has... some abilities, but the fit depends on how nihilistic your main PC’s approach is.


If melee isn’t the focus, then perhaps divine caster / skillmonkey? Void Disciple (Complete Divine), Master of Masks (Complete Scoundrel) offer some utility at half-casting.

[noce]

Then again, Acolyte of the Skin seems to fit for a cohort of a half fiend.

From Book of Vile Darkness, you could refluff Thrall of Graz'zt to be "Thrall of the PC with Leadership".
The same applies to "Thrall of Orcus".

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Some nifty suggestions, but a few points.

Classes like Heirophant would be great if I could qualify.

Any Deity specific prestige class will likely be a no go in this case, as well as any class that requires you to worship a deity in general (more on this later)

Psionics is NOT magical in our campaign.

Ur-Priest is banned not for its power, but for its flavor, or DM despises the thought that a mortal could siphon/steal power from a deity.

While multiclassing into an arcane/psionic class would indeed increase the character's overall power, I would prefer to try and stick to divine spellcasting only for the sake of the character's story/role-playing.

This character is actually going to be an NPC Cohort obtained by the leadership feat, and I would prefer it to be caster oriented as opposed to melee oriented.

All that being said to kind of let you know about what is going on, here is a little more info:

Basically we follow a set of rules similar to how divine spells worked in 1st edition.

1st and 2nd level spells could be cast based on a character's training alone, thus requiring no deity/god/etc.

3rd, 4th, and 5th level spells could only be granted by a servant of a deity, or for our purposes an Outsider.

6th and 7th level spells could only be granted by an actual deity. (there were no 8th and 9th divine spells in 1st edition)

What I have is a half-fiend character who is attempting to ascend to become a deity. Followers of said character can cast 1st and 2nd level spells based on their training as normal. My DM has also told me that it would be possible for my character to more or less draw power from his fiendish ancestory to eventually be able to grant spells as an outsider would (therefor up to 5th level, with adequate power.) So eventually this NPC might be able to cast 6th level spells and up, but my character will essentially have to become a god first which likely won't happen until very high levels(if I can even manage to pull it off at all)

This sounds to me like a Warlock\Cleric\some PRC for Warlock or\and Cleric.
After all you do have a fiend to draw power from.

[Necroscope]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet but an another idea is that you and your DM could retool the class in a way for it to work with what you want to accomplish. For example, give them some other ability that is connected to the deity that your character worships.
In our previous game (which is as homebrew as you can get.) We use everything from movies, tv shows, anime and alot of other stuff as well. We had Gods that were based off of the Naruto Sharingan eye abilities. My character worshiped Amaterasu. We used the Black flame zealot class for the character and one of the things we changed was once I got higher in level in it I was immune to her fire, and had perfect control over it. When I started the class I could call forth the fire but once it hit the target it was anything goes pretty much.

[Fizban]

A cohort eh? That means a -2 level penalty, assuming your leadership score is otherwise maxed. I think Visionary Seeker could be really good on a cohort: not only does Spell Mimic ignore your restrictions on divine spells, it ignores restrictions on your own casting levels. By the time you'd start running into that 5th level spell limit, Spell Mimic is letting you copy two 8th+ level spells per day (at your own reduced caster level, take Practiced). If your follower could be said to be seeking enlightenment and get "inducted by a member of the Mind's Eye," they could take it. Though the fluff is all about "I iz da best enligtan'd." Planar Handbook does not have great fluff, or great classes for the most part.

Otherwise, for combat power the Master of Shrouds' summoned shadows are still strong even if delays a couple levels. With a net -3 your cohort would run into the 5th level limit when you hit 12th. I could also see the rerolls from Fortune's Friend being useful for keeping a cohort alive. Warpriest is even less attractive with the cohort delay, but if you're just aiming for endgame it'd still get Mass Heal a hair early.

Divine Oracle doesn't lose any casting levels, but Divination Enhancement makes Augury/Divination super-accurate, and is the sort of thing people like to offload onto a cohort. That's only at 3rd level so you can bail to something else before hitting the ceiling. All it requires is Skill Focus (know: religion) and 8 ranks, no deity restrictions.

Evangelist has zero casting in its five levels and instead gains bardic music-like abilities, but not many. The first is alignment dependent, evil gives foes a will save penalty while concentrating. The next is mass Fire Shield while concentrating, and the last is a cha-based charm monster that also shifts alignment. In between it gets some diplomancy buffs. Expensive skill requirements.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Oh, for a cohort, I have another suggestion.


Cloistered Cleric 4/Church Inquisitor 1/Paragnostic Apostle 1
Spontaneous domain casting (Magic domain)
Abilities: 13+ wisdom (to cast dispel magic), 14+ charisma (to have 5 turn attempts)
Domains: Inquisition (bonus, from Church Inquisitor), Knowledge, Magic, Purification
Feats: Divine Defiance, Domain Focus (Magic), Versatile Spellcaster
Items: dispelling cord (1000 gp)
Caster level 6, +1 for abjurations (Purification domain), +1 for Magic domain spells (Domain Focus)
+5 on dispel checks (+4 Inquisition domain, +1 Penetrating Insight, from Paragnostic Apostle)
+2 on dispel checks 5/day from dispelling cord

With one turn undead use, you can counterspell as an immediate action, burning any prepared spell(s) to spontaneously cast dispel magic. With Versatile Spellcaster, you have at least 5 third-level spells per day. Your bonus on dispel checks is +15, 5/day, and +13 after that (but you're out of spells anyway). At level 6, nothing magical is going to get past you for a long time.

This guy has one combat task: to keep you safe from dangerous magic. It's a magic bodyguard, or possibly a trap remover. Doesn't rely on anything past third-level spells, but gets the full range of clerical utility magic nonetheless, and can provide some useful Knowledge skills as well. Should be able to counter magic reliably, even being a few levels behind the rest of the party. Continue levelling as Church Inquisitor for some immunities, or Paragnostic Apostle for some miscellaneous bonuses, or maybe Divine Oracle for divinations and some defenses.

If you pump Knowledge (arcana) and make this cohort an elf, you can take Elven Spell Lore as 9th-level feat, for another +2 on dispel checks. At that level, you've hit the CL cap on dispel magic, whether you have the Purification domain or not, but with ESL and the other boosts, you're still dispelling at +19--enough to out-magic typical CR 11-12 enemies.

Arcane Mastery lets you take 10 on caster level checks, including dispel checks. You can't qualify for Arcane Mastery using your cleric spellcasting (well, with the Spell domain you can, but let's assume not), but you can qualify with a spell-like ability. I was thinking of silverbrow human (gets feather fall, so you can take it as human bonus feat), but that's not very compatible with Elven Spell Lore.

I don't know what domains you('d like to) grant precisely, but Inquisition and Knowledge are bonus domains, so you don't need to grant them specifically. Magic is there purely for the spontaneous dispel magic, Purification is for the +1 CL, and can probably be skipped (but if you are, say, purifying the world by fighting non-evil creatures, maybe you grant it?). Church Inquisitor is normally LG/LN, but I see no reason why you couldn't have an evil version. After all, inquisitions can be quite oppressive and gruesome, right?


Do note that Ordained Champion is totally available for your cohort. As (aspiring) deity, you can decide you want one, and ordain them yourself.

[Rebel7284]

Yathrinshee and True Necromancer are both well known for losing caster levels.

Shadowcraft Mage can use DMM[Heighten Spell] to cast spells significantly above the slot level.

[ATHATH]

Have you considered taking levels in the Vampire Savage Progression (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030824a)? Add the Master Vampire PrC (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/evil/mastervampire.shtml) and/or the Lifedrinker PrC (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/evil/lifedrinker.shtml) to taste.

The Lifedrinker PrC bears special attention, as it is a prestige class that gives spellcasting-enhancing abilities while not actually advancing spellcasting.

Speaking of classes that enhance but don't advance spellcasting, don't Eunuch Warlock (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/oriental/eunuchwarlock.shtml), Eldritch Master (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/general/eldritchmaster.shtml), and Wonderworker (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/exalted/wonderworker.shtml) all do that? They all present some complications, however. Wonderworker requires a Good alignment and two Exalted feats to enter (so enter it before "falling from grace" (or something like that) if you want to be an Evil character). Eldritch Master requires the ability to cast arcane spells to enter it (*cough* Southern Magician *cough*) and its Spells Known class feature only applies to characters that can "cast spells as a sorcerer" (*cough* Magical Training *cough*), but its Spell Boost class feature works with any spellcasting class (except maybe Chameleon). And as for Eunuch Warlock... Yeah, I don't really see it working for your build.

[ATHATH]

Also, don't forget that the Fiend of Blashemy PrC (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/evil/blasphemy.shtml) is a thing.

The Master of Many Forms PrC is pretty good for Wild Shape-focused Druids, but I don't really think that's what you want. Planar Shepard might be, though, especially since it's so good that it doesn't even need to advance spellcasting to be pure win.

Have you considered making your companion a Mystic Ranger? If you make it a Wild Shape Mystic Ranger, your companion can enter the aforementioned Planar Shepherd.

Would the Binder base class and/or the feats that give you access to vestige binding be of any use to you?

[Rebel7284]

Have you considered taking levels in the Vampire Savage Progression (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030824a)? Add the Master Vampire PrC (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/evil/mastervampire.shtml) and/or the Lifedrinker PrC (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/evil/lifedrinker.shtml) to taste.

The Lifedrinker PrC bears special attention, as it is a prestige class that gives spellcasting-enhancing abilities while not actually advancing spellcasting.

Speaking of classes that enhance but don't advance spellcasting, don't Eunuch Warlock (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/oriental/eunuchwarlock.shtml), Eldritch Master (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/general/eldritchmaster.shtml), and Wonderworker (http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/classes/prestige/exalted/wonderworker.shtml) all do that? They all present some complications, however. Wonderworker requires a Good alignment and two Exalted feats to enter (so enter it before "falling from grace" (or something like that) if you want to be an Evil character). Eldritch Master requires the ability to cast arcane spells to enter it (*cough* Southern Magician *cough*) and its Spells Known class feature only applies to characters that can "cast spells as a sorcerer" (*cough* Magical Training *cough*), but its Spell Boost class feature works with any spellcasting class (except maybe Chameleon). And as for Eunuch Warlock... Yeah, I don't really see it working for your build.

Ooh! Eldrich Master! I like that class. Magical Training + Favored Soul as base?

[ATHATH]

Ooh! Eldrich Master! I like that class. Magical Training + Favored Soul as base?
Note: I might have edited my second post after you read it.

Yeah, I really like Eldritch Master too. It fits (default) fluff-wise as well.

Pro-tip: Snag spells from the Trapsmith spell list (Haste as a 1st level spell! Woot!) and other PrC spell lists (and the spell lists of base classes with slow spell progressions; there are some nifty Paladin, Bard, and Ranger spells out there). That should make up for your stunted spellcasting for a while.

Also, the Practiced Spellcaster feat is probably a good thing to take.

[ATHATH]

Oh, and if your DM will let you waive the deity requirements, consider taking the Initiate of Amaunator and Initiate of Lathander feats, which were made available to Favored Souls in... I don't remember where. Spontaneously casting Cure Light Wounds spells and [Fire] spells that you haven''t even learned as a Favored Soul is pretty neat. Check with your DM to see if those feats will let you cast Lightning Bolts and such with Favored Soul spell slots if you dip a level into Wizard.

[Yogibear41]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I think right now I am leaning towards something like this

Cloistered Cleric 3/Acolyte of the Skin 10/Nar Demonbinder 7

I know I originally said I wanted to stay away from Arcane, but the summoning focus fits in well with the characters theme.