New player needs help (buffer Wizard 3.5)

[Zhepna]

Hi,

we start a new 3.5 game and since I never played this edition, I have a few questions:


1) We will have a base where we can spend time between sessions so I'll have a place to craft (if I play artificier). I was wondering if the Sanctum Spell feat is interacting with crafting. Since I'll do all my crafting there at low level, it could be interesting.

2)With a base where we spend most of our time there and Sanctum spell feat is allowed, what could be the cool things I could do?

3) I plan to play a buffer wizard, actually the build is Wizard 3(domain transmutation)(sanctum spell feat taken at lvl 3) /War Weaver5/Incantatrix10 but I hesitate to play it since I think it'll be too strong for the game. Artificier seems nice but complicated for a first character.... so for the moment I stick with the war weaver build but if you know another nice war weaver build, please let me know. I read everything I see online but I ask just in case :)

4)I would like to build a lot of non-magical machines/items like a medieval printer and glass for windows. I was wondering if (Craft (Engineering) is the best skill to use in this kind of situation? I’ll invest skill points according to the skill needed. The rules I found are on wiki and I can't link them since I don't have enought points. and inventions doesn't seems to be covered. Some others items I was thinking about require some modern knowledge like a steam-punk electric guitar, the guitar is pluged in a backpack and where you see steam coming out from it and a glass in the center where you see electricity sparkles inside it. It could be used as instrument or as a flamethrower, the gaz coming from the backpack too.

5)I would like to make modifications to my body and was wondering if there was spells that could allow this kind of things? By exemple, I would like to change my eye for a mechanical one, maybe increasing my aim when I shout or have a semi-dark vision. I could also use one of this grafted magical item for item familiar. I found Renegade Mastermaker (Magic of Eberron) but it doesn’t to offer much. It's mainly for flavor but he's a really old creepy elf trying to experiment to extend his life.



Thanks a lot for the help and have a nice day.

[noob]

For extending your life there is a magic item who halve aging rate.
And a spell who makes you become younger but it had the evil tag(you drain the stats of the target making yourself younger and nothing forbids targeting yourself)
Renegade mastermaker gets its best ability at level 5 after that taking more levels is not as good as taking levels in fatespinner or whatever.
Since any magic item can be made as warforged components you can make scrolls of level 0 spells in warforged components and then get one thousand of then and gain 1000 hp(with the level 5 ability of the renegade mastermaker) it will cost you only 12500 gold and Two caster levels(from the renegade mastermaker)
You can get maug grafts if you do not want to take renegade mastermaker and still want to be a cyborg.(take the vibrating plate: it nets you a bonus sense that works even against darkstalker)
Your build stub is the kind of op thing the gms fears: the only way I can see it get more op is if you got eleven generalist and then started casting ninth level spells at level 1.(and then somehow proceed to spam travel through time and ice assassin of gods)
So you are probably not a new player or your gm is planning to make a high op adventure.

[Darrin]

1) We will have a base where we can spend time between sessions so I'll have a place to craft (if I play artificier). I was wondering if the Sanctum Spell feat is interacting with crafting. Since I'll do all my crafting there at low level, it could be interesting.


Sanctum Spell actually has some unusual implications for crafting magic items. Since you tend to pay more for higher level spells, crafting magic items in your sanctum winds up costing you more. It's cheaper to craft items outside of your sanctum. That's assuming you can reach an agreement with the DM over what "effective spell level" means and whether you calculate the enchantment costs by the spell slot or by the level of the spell as it's cast.



2)With a base where we spend most of our time there and Sanctum spell feat is allowed, what could be the cool things I could do?


Plant an oak tree in your sanctum. Get an acorn of far travel (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040710a) on your spell list or UMD it from a wand/scroll.

Sanctum Spell is used mostly for early entry into a PrC that requires a certain level of spells. It might also be used for arcane fusion abuse, but most DM's shut that down immediately. Casting a spell at a higher level actually isn't all that helpful inside a protected sanctum where no one is attacking you.



3) I plan to play a buffer wizard, actually the build is Wizard 3(domain transmutation)(sanctum spell feat taken at lvl 3) /War Weaver5/Incantatrix10 but I hesitate to play it since I think it'll be too strong for the game. Artificier seems nice but complicated for a first character.... so for the moment I stick with the war weaver build but if you know another nice war weaver build, please let me know. I read everything I see online but I ask just in case :)


War Weaver + Sanctum Spell is a solid combo, as it allows you to fit higher-level spells into your tapestry when you're outside your sanctum. But again, it will hurt you inside your sanctum. Incantatrix is very strong, but allows you to Persist your existing buffs with a Spellcraft check. If you go that route, you may want to discuss what sort of power level the DM is comfortable with.



4)I would like to build a lot of non-magical machines/items like a medieval printer and glass for windows. I was wondering if (Craft (Engineering) is the best skill to use in this kind of situation? I’ll invest skill points according to the skill needed. The rules I found are on wiki and I can't link them since I don't have enought points. and inventions doesn't seems to be covered. Some others items I was thinking about require some modern knowledge like a steam-punk electric guitar, the guitar is pluged in a backpack and where you see steam coming out from it and a glass in the center where you see electricity sparkles inside it. It could be used as instrument or as a flamethrower, the gaz coming from the backpack too.


I'd be find with Craft: Steampunk Gadgets.



5)I would like to make modifications to my body and was wondering if there was spells that could allow this kind of things? By exemple, I would like to change my eye for a mechanical one, maybe increasing my aim when I shout or have a semi-dark vision. I could also use one of this grafted magical item for item familiar. I found Renegade Mastermaker (Magic of Eberron) but it doesn’t to offer much. It's mainly for flavor but he's a really old creepy elf trying to experiment to extend his life.


Elves live around 550 years, so... huh.

Fleshwarper in Lords of Madness might be worth a look. For more information on grafts:

Stitching Things Together: The Graft Handbook (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=r3b5kjt28com9k0t0to2o77as7&topic=575)
Fleshwarping: A List of Grafts, Symbionts, and Related Goodies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?190350-Fleshwarping-A-List-of-Grafts-Symbionts-and-Related-Goodies)
The Complete Graft Handbook (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=r3b5kjt28com9k0t0to2o77as7&topic=12562)

[death390]

small issue that you have there is that the war weaver has the Requirement of ability to cast arcane spells level 3. i figure enlarge spell would be taken with your level 1 feat. a wizard does not gain normal access to level 3 spells until wizard level 5. so you would have to delay your war-weaver by two levels. there are a couple ways around that if you have a couple feats to spare.

heighten spell + easy metamagic plus lvl 2 spells = a lvl 1 spell that counts as level 3. Earth spell technically works but costs another feat.

some way to get spontaneous slot conversion to a spell + versatile spellcaster+ lvl 2 spells. <preffered way since versatile nets you your whole spell list for double slot cost AND technically can let you cast a spell level ahead.
(some of these sponteneous conversion you cant do due to transmuter limitation. but uncanny forthought and spontaneous cure might work [research CmW of bard list]), or magical training regional feat, ect.

[Zhepna]

noob : I'm a new player but wish to play for litteraly 4 years now so I'm happy to find a dm. I had way to much time to read. Thanks for your advices. we are all new players and the dm is learning the rules at the moment so I just want to make my teammates feel like superheroes and be in the light spot without going over the top to annoy the dm. I'm dropping incantatrix, I'm just not sure yet what to do after the Wizard 3/War Weaver 5.

Maybe Wizard 3/War Weaver 5 / Spellguard of Silverymoon 5 /Arcane Devotee 2 / Harper Mage 3
I find it sad that most of the guide I can find online have been lost with the with wizards of the cost forums.

Darrin:
Thanks a lot for all the insight. It's really appreciated and I'll use it :) My question will maybe sound stupid but I'll ask... your answer suggest that I could somehow have access to other class spell list. I thought I could only craft wand of the spell I knew. There are spells that could be really sweet to use with war weaver like Favor Of The Martyr and I was wondering how to obtain it. Is it as simple as buying a wand of it? I'm really curious. The only things I found to get it are Expanded Knowledge(which I'll never reach) and Extra Spell.

I saw no build with the Archivist but maybe it could allow me to gain some buff from other class spell lists.

Speaking of acquiring new class spell, I just found your post talking about the Best (Planar) Touchstones.
The dodge ability seems nice but I'm not sure it's the best for the wizard. Luck domain seems interesting.
From what I understand at the moment, you gain a basic ability and can cast spells from the selected domain but I have found this in a war weaver guide:

''Planar touchstone:
Take this feat. No. Don't skip past this part. Take this feat. It can buy you things. Lots of things. Like access to domain powers, EX timestops with no associated actions, the ability to cast spells from a domain once or twice... The list goes on. No, really. Those are just the abilities from my favorite two touchstones, the breaching obelisk and the catalogues of enlightenment.''

If I take the Luck domain, am I allowed to obtain something else from this feat? I'll have to make further research on this planar touchstone since I don't know what he means with 'EX timestops with no associated' and he talks like we can obtain more things.

death390:
You're right, I use Sanctum spell feat at lvl 3 and it allows me to meet the requirements for War Weaver sooner. Concerning uncanny forthought, it seems broken but there's probably something I'm missing...

''When preparing your daily allotment of spells, you can reserve a number of spell slots equal to your Intelligence modifier. As a standard action, you can use one of these slots to cast a spell that you selected for the Spell Mastery feat. The level of the slot used must be equal to or greater than the level of the spell you intend to cast.

Alternatively, as a full-round action, you can use a reserved slot to cast any spell that you know. The spell is resolved as normal, but for the purpose of the spell, your caster level is reduced by two. The level of the slot used must be equal to or greater than the level of the spell you intend to cast.''

Do I need to also take the Spell Mastery feat. to be able to use all those slots for any spells per day? I want to use this feat and want to make sure I use it correctly. From what I understand, I need to take the feats uncanny forthought and Spell Mastery.
I also wonder if this could allow a spell lvl 7 to fit into the war weaver with the second ability (your caster level is reduced by two). I don't think it works. What do you think?

[Darrin]

Darrin:
Thanks a lot for all the insight. It's really appreciated and I'll use it :) My question will maybe sound stupid but I'll ask... your answer suggest that I could somehow have access to other class spell list. I thought I could only craft wand of the spell I knew. There are spells that could be really sweet to use with war weaver like Favor Of The Martyr and I was wondering how to obtain it. Is it as simple as buying a wand of it? I'm really curious. The only things I found to get it are Expanded Knowledge(which I'll never reach) and Extra Spell.


Ok, so... getting non-wizard spells on your spell list. There are a variety of methods, and they all involve varying amounts of jumping through hoops. I suggested acorn of far travel because finding a scroll or wand for a 2nd-level druid spell shouldn't be too difficult, although some DMs might not allow it due to the obscurity of the source. UMD isn't a class skill for wizards, but you can add it with the Apprentice feat (DMGII p. 176).

The easiest method to getting a non-wizard spell onto your spell list is to use Extra Spell. However, this is still something of a sore spot, as we are still arguing about whether the feat actually allows access to other spell lists. A Custserv answer from way-back-when said "No", but A) Custserv rulings tend to be all over the place, sometimes ignoring or misunderstanding well-established rules and B) it's a pretty crappy feat if it just gives you a spell you already have access to.

Most of the methods to add spells to your spell list assume you're a sorcerer. However, a wizard can get spontaneous casting via feats: Alacritous Cogitation (Complete Mage) or Spell Mastery + Uncanny Forethought (Exemplars of Evil) are the typical go-to methods for that. Drake Helm (Eberron Explorer's Handbook) can add spells to your spell list by casting them into attuned dragonshards.

Certain PrCs add spells to your class list. Two of the more notable: Sandshaper (Sandstorm) and Rainbow Servant (Complete Divine). This last one is controversial because it's not entirely clear if the designers intended it to advance spellcasting for 10/10 levels. The class ability table lists it as a 6/10 caster, while the class description text says it's 10/10. If you take all 10 levels, you get access to all cleric spells. Unfortunately, that doesn't help you get acorn of far travel (Druid 2) or favor of the martyr (Paladin 4).

Certain PrCs give you limited access to one or two spells off your class list based on a particular school. This is usually called "Advanced Learning" or something similar. Unseen Seer 2, for example, can add any divination spell, although picking anything except hunter's eye (PHBII) is somewhat rare.

Master Specialist offers something similar via it's Expanded Spellbook ability: so long as the spell is in your specialized school of magic, you can add it to your spellbook. This would work with favor of the martyr, but you'd have to be a necromancer. Transmuter is one of the best schools to specialize in, and while it's easy to grab acorn of far travel that way, there are way too many great transmutation spells to choose from!

But what about favor or the martyr? There is actually a way to get that as a specialist transmuter. In Unearthed Arcana, there's a transmuter variant ACF that swaps out your 5th/10th/15th/20th level bonus feats for Spell Versatility (Ex). This allows you to pick any spell from anywhere, even from a prohibited school, and forevermore treat it as a transmutation spell. So Transmuter 3/Master Specialist 2/Transmuter +2 could get both acorn of far travel and favor of the martyr on your list.

Another way to grab any spell is a 2-level dip into Wyrm Wizard (Dragon Magic). Spell Research explicitly allows you to add any spell from any spell list, even divine, to your class list. You lose a caster level, but it's easy to qualify for.



From what I understand at the moment, you gain a basic ability and can cast spells from the selected domain but I have found this in a war weaver guide:

''Planar touchstone:
Take this feat. No. Don't skip past this part. Take this feat. It can buy you things. Lots of things. Like access to domain powers, EX timestops with no associated actions, the ability to cast spells from a domain once or twice... The list goes on. No, really. Those are just the abilities from my favorite two touchstones, the breaching obelisk and the catalogues of enlightenment.''


The Touchstone feat (Sandstorm) is a bit easier to qualify for, but wizard shouldn't have any problems putting ranks into Knowledge: the Planes. The non-planar Touchstone feat can also link to planar touchstone sites. When I take Planar Touchstone, I'm usually just picking up the base ability, but it looks like the War Weaver HB is using it to get access to domain spells via the higher-order ability of the Catalogues of Enlightenment. Either way, it's a "Swiss Army Chainsaw" feat if you have easy-access to planar travel: a grab-bag of miscellaneous abilities with a variety of thinking-around-corners applications.



If I take the Luck domain, am I allowed to obtain something else from this feat?


I like the Luck domain because rerolls are awesome and it's one of the only ways in the game that you can get a reroll when you roll a "1" on hit points.



I'll have to make further research on this planar touchstone since I don't know what he means with 'EX timestops with no associated' and he talks like we can obtain more things.


Time stop as an (Ex)? Huh... not sure what he's talking about either. I'll have to investigate that one...



Do I need to also take the Spell Mastery feat. to be able to use all those slots for any spells per day? I want to use this feat and want to make sure I use it correctly. From what I understand, I need to take the feats uncanny forthought and Spell Mastery.
I also wonder if this could allow a spell lvl 7 to fit into the war weaver with the second ability (your caster level is reduced by two). I don't think it works. What do you think?

Reducing the caster level by two doesn't affect the spell level of the spell. So no, it doesn't work like that.

Alacritous Cogitation (Complete Mage) is probably a better pick than Uncanny Forethought if you're short on feat slots.

[Eldariel]

Ok, so... getting non-wizard spells on your spell list. There are a variety of methods, and they all involve varying amounts of jumping through hoops. I suggested acorn of far travel because finding a scroll or wand for a 2nd-level druid spell shouldn't be too difficult, although some DMs might not allow it due to the obscurity of the source. UMD isn't a class skill for wizards, but you can add it with the Apprentice feat (DMGII p. 176).

You can also get UMD with a single-level dip in e.g. Loremaster without losing CL (and indeed, getting extra skill points and the feat tax refunded).

[Zhepna]

Thanks a lot for those precise and detailed answers. It helps me a lot. :smallsmile: