Looking for A Class

[Stryyke]

So my entire D&D career, I've been looking for a certain set of characteristics in a race/class combo, and I've yet to find a class, or series of classes, that provides what I'm looking for. Here's what I'm looking for:

1) Something that's competetive, but not OP at lvl 20. I don't play with an optimized group, so I don't want to overshadow everyone.
2) At will casting of a limited number of spells. I tent toward sorcerer for this, but I'm still left wanting. For instance, at lvl 11, my sorcerer has 13 castings at each level up to 5 (why only 5 is a different story). But I'm always running out of spells half-way through the day. I'd like a spell caster that uses magic for everything from cooking breakfast, to combat.
3) A gish. I want combat to be melee focused with magic supplementation.

So those are the big things.

Source material: Any 3.5 official sources, and 3rd party sources are usually accepted.

Monster races accepted, even non-LA races in certain circumstances.

I'm looking for a 20 level build, but we'll be starting at Lvl 1. MHD will level in tandem with class level.

If there's any additional information I left out, feel free to ask. Thanks for whatever help you can provide.

[Zaq]

I mean, Warlock is the class designed around “at-will magic.” There’s also Dragonfire Adept, but Warlock can do the gish thing more easily.

[noce]

Duskblade, too.
Competent, many spell slots, already gished up.

[Zaq]

Depending on your cheese tolerance, you could also look at a psionic character with a recharge trick of some stripe. Those CAN be played as very powerful, but you can also make some suboptimal choices here and there to make it so that you're not the dominant party member except when it's appropriate to be. It's not technically at-will until you get into time loop BS (note: do not get into time loop BS), but it's a limited pool that you can refill under your own power with just a little bit of downtime (measured in minutes if not rounds). You know, depending on the specific recharge trick you use.

Psionics lend themselves to gishing pretty well, honestly. The Psychic Warrior is a ready made gish in a can, and it's not that hard to turn an Ardent or a Wilder into a gish if you feel like it. (Ardent is the strongest of those three options, but all of them are viable in the right hands.)

[ezekielraiden]

Makes me wish there were some DFA gish PrC options the way casters get Abjurant Champion, Ruby Knight Vindicator/Jade Phoenix Mage, or even Eldritch Knight. In fact, I could really see space for a DFA/BO9S PrC advancing breath damage, invocations, and maneuvers like RKV/JPM, but I guess there just wasn't time at the end of 3.5.

The at-will magic is the tough part. 3.x tends to treat at-will/indefinitely-repeatable anything as either too powerful for PCs or in need of serious limitations. Adding gish on top is...difficult.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Seems to me that the obvious solution here is an Eldritch Theurge build. Warlock side gives you always-on magic while the caster side* let's you be magically diverse enough to not feel too limited.

Warlock and ET both have average BAB so melee is okay if you pick the right buffs.

*I'd go with sorcerer for ease of use and to curb tendency to overshadow but a beguiler's armored mage means no hoops for armor and its list is solid if more limited than the sorc/wiz list.

As for a full build, you get a lot more out of that if you do it yourself but I'm happy to help if you have questions, same as most folks around here.

[Troacctid]

Warlock has at-will effects, works at all levels, can do melee if you build for it, and doesn't become overpowered until level 21.

You could also consider working with incarnum. Incarnates have the magic you want, can tussle with the best of them, and play well at all levels. For more melee prowess, mix in levels of crusader—standard action strikes synergize well with the incarnate's low BAB.

[Stryyke]

Is there a complete list of Warlock invocations, with all 3rd party sources?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

It'll take a bit of legwork to make viable, but how about an arcane swordsage?

Though even just swordsage would be fine, if you use the more magical-seeming maneuvers as a type of casting. It's not actually, but it's magical enough that you could easily make it fit your desired fluff. Shadow teleports and fire effects are pretty magical, even if the former are (Ex) and the latter are fairly universally resistible. Combine with some variant pyrokineticist (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625e) and maybe alter the energy type of the Desert Wind school to whatever your pyro variant energy type is, and you should be good to go.

You could also combine it with feats and racial traits, such as the changeling's ability to alter himself (along with some warshaper, maybe), or the divine minion's at-will wild shape and some wild shape optimization. Shape Soulmeld can grant quite a lot of flexibility, as could some graft optimization (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?177889-Brainstorm-for-Psionic-Tricks-Tactics-and-Combos-Handbook/page11&p=23285432#post23285432).

[DrMotives]

Is there a complete list of Warlock invocations, with all 3rd party sources?

There is never of a complete list of anything 3rd party, how could there possibly be? A complete 1st party list should be in the warlock handbook though.

[Troacctid]

There is never of a complete list of anything 3rd party, how could there possibly be? A complete 1st party list should be in the warlock handbook though.
Warlock handbook, by the way, linked in my signature, for the record. Also comes with some homebrew invocations that you could run past your DM.

[ColorBlindNinja]

Maybe a Martial Adept class would work for the OP's purposes? They don't have spells, though, so maybe Phoenix Mage?

[Particle_Man]

Warlock is what I would say too. It is the definitive "never run out of magic" character. You can check out the Warlock's handbook or just take a few levels of Warblade now and then (they are beefy (d12! Full BAB!), and you can focus maneuvers on the diamond mind "use concentration checks instead of saving throw" maneuvers). I mean, you said you are not looking for maximum optimization here, right?

So Warblade 1/Warlock 2/Warblade 1/Warlock 2/Warblade 1 would eventually get you the three save maneuvers (and hey, uncanny dodge!). You could also take Steel Wind (attack two dudes at level 1 and Sudden Leap (jump as a swift action!) and retire them into "known but not prepared for the day" as you learn the other save maneuvers. Plus you could have a stance that (since it is your *only* stance) is always on when you are conscious (Scent might be nice). After that I would just go Warlock. Max out Concentration and UMD. Look for wands. Eventually get a craft magic item feat.

A different option is the Crusader who focuses almost exclusively on White Raven maneuvers. Crusaders never run out of Maneuvers, and White Raven is mostly about helping your martial buddies be more awesome, so you won't be overshadowing them. But it is not really the "I am a magic-user" idea most people thing of, so may not be what you are looking for.