Gruftzwerg
2023-03-30, 02:05 AM
Lion-O & the Thundercats
(an Uber-Spellguard build)
Welcome to my newest TO build. After my Gaara (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?647381)build had a twist in the final lvl turning him into Mumm-Ra, I think it's time to adapt Lion-O as good as possible. Since I want to emulate the Sword of Omens' endless list of abilities we need a wizard to get what what we want here.
Yeah, you did hear me right: "I am going to theoretically optimize a T1 wizard."
You have been warned. The power lvl of this build is not intended for normal play.
While I tried to be as accurate as possible with the adaptation, there are a few optimizer choices and the things left out can be found at the bottom in the Alternate Build Options section. I hope that you all enjoy the build and leave some comments. Now let us dive into the build...
Race: Human
STR: 10
DEX: 14
CON: 16
INT: 16 (mainstat, all points from lvlUp go in here)
WIS: 10
CHA: 10
Alignment: (any non evil: L-N is fitting imho)
LVL
Class
BAB
For
Ref
Wil
Skills
Feats
(H)= Human
(W)= Wizard
(SB)= Swiftblade
(SG)= Spellguard
Class Features
1st
(Combat)
Wizard
+0
+0
+0
+2
Concentration: 4
Hide: 2*
Knowledge (arcana): 4
Perform (dance): 2*
Search: 2*
Spellcraft: 4
Combat Casting
Extend Spell (H)
Dodge (W)
Fighter Bonus Feat as Wizard
2nd
Wizard
+1
+0
+0
+3
Concentration: 5
Hide: 2.5*
Knowledge (arcana): 5
Perform (dance): 2.5*
Search:: 2.5*
Spellcraft: 5
3rd
Wizard
+1
+1
+1
+3
Concentration: 6
Hide: 3*
Knowledge (arcana): 6
Perform (dance): 3*
Search: 3*
Spellcraft: 6
Sanctum Spell
4th
Wizard
+2
+1
+1
+4
Concentration: 7
Hide: 3.5*
Knowledge (arcana): 7
Perform (dance): 3.5*
Search: 3.5*
Spellcraft: 7
5th
(Combat)
Wizard
+2
+1
+1
+5
Concentration: 8
Hide: 4*
Knowledge (arcana): 8
Perform (dance): 4*
Search: 4*
Spellcraft: 8
Mobility (W)
Fighter Bonus Feat as Wizard
6th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+2
+1
+1
+7
Knowledge (arcana): 9
Spot: 4 (+4)
Spellcraft. 9
Endurance
Obligation
Token
Ward Attunement
7th
Wyrm Wizard
+2
+1
+1
+9
Hide: 5* (+2)
Perform (dance): 5* (+2)
Sense Motive: 1* (+2)
Knowledge of the Wyrm
8th
Wyrm Wizard
+3
+1
+1
+10
INT: 18
Hide: 5.5
Perform (dance): 5.5*
Sense Motive: 3.5* (+5)
Spell Research:
"Sheltered Vitality" (4th)
9th
Swiftblade
+4
+1
+3
+12
Perform (dance): 6*
Spot: 8 (+4)
Tumble: 4 (+4)
Persistent Spell
Spring Attack (SB)
Spring Attack (feat)
Swift Surge +1/+0 ft.
10th
Spelldancer
+4
+1
+5
+14
Hide: 6*
Perform (dance): 13 (+7)
Sense Motive: 4*
Spelldance
11th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+5
+1
+5
+15
Hide: 7* (+2)
Perform (dance): 14* (+2)
Search: 5.5 (+3)
Reach Spell (SG)
Metamagic Feat
12th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+5
+2
+6
+15
Hide: 7.5*
Perform (dance): 15* (+2)
Search: 7.5* (+4)
Combat Expertise
Selective Spell
13th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+6
+2
+6
+16
Hide: 8*
Perform (dance): 16* (+2)
Search: 8*
Chain Spell (SG)
Metamagic Feat
Spellguard
14th
Unseen Seer
+6
+2
+6
+18
Hide: 17 (+9)
Perform (dance): 17* (+2)
Damage Bonus +1d6
15th
Unseen Seer
+7
+2
+6
+19
Hide: 18
Perform (dance): 18* (+2)
Spot: 16 (+8)
Whirlwind
Advanced Learning:
Hunter's Eye
Silent Spell
16th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+7
+2
+6
+19
INT: 20
Concentration: 12 (+4)
Hide: 19
Perform (dance): 19* (+2)
Spot: 19
Selective Spell
(multiple types)
Spell Power
17th
Unseen Seer
+8
+3
+7
+20
Concentration: 20 (+8)
Hide: 20
Perform (dance): 20* (+2)
Spot: 20
Divination Spell Power +1
18th
Unseen Seer
+9
+3
+7
+20
Concentration: 21
Hide: 21
Perform (dance): 21* (+2)
Sense Motive: 11 (+7)
Spot: 21
Sculpt Spell
Damage Bonus +2d6
19th
Unseen Seer
+9
+3
+7
+21
Concentration: 22
Hide: 22
Perform (dance): 22* (+2)
Sense Motive: 18 (+7)
Spot: 22
Advanced Learning:
Susurrus of the City
Guarded Mind
20th
Unseen Seer
+10
+4
+8
+21
Concentration: 23
Hide: 23
Perform (dance): 23* (+2)
Sense Motive: 23 (+5)
Spot: 23
Tumble: 6 (+2)
Divination Spell Power +2
Familiar: Snarf (Cat with obesity problems..^^)
Give him a pearl of speech for the fluff. I'm not showcasing any new Familiar stuff in this build, even though you can fully buff him up with all your spells (including polymorphing/shapechanging him into a full Thundercat). There is also an alternate build option to sacrifice him for other fluff options.
1-5
We start out as human combat wizard with a bunch of feats required for the build. We have a solid CON score to help our with the otherwise low D4 HP per lvl.
Sanctum Spell is needed for the early entry into Spellguard (requires 4th lvl spellcasting), since it can increase the lvl of the spell we cast by 1. Otherwise we would get problems to fit all the choices made into a build.
Except our feat and (maybe) spell selection we are mostly a normal wizard. (I recommend a regular spell selection for lvling and buying the build specific spells later)
6-10
Thx to Sanctum Spell we can now enter Spellguard.
Wyrm Wizard gives us access to Sheltered Vitality, which we'll need later to persist spells.
Swiftblade gives Spring Attack for free (we are aiming for Whirlwind).
Finally we enter Spelldancer. For now our Spelldancing is still limited by the regular rules. We should still at least persist Thunderlance, the signature weapon for this build. It can change size at will between 5 and 20ft reach, is made out of force, deals 3d6 dmg and can dispel low lvl force effects (max 3rd).
11-15
At lvl 11 with Reach Spell we can finally persist Sheltered Vitality, which makes us immune to ability damage and fatigue. This allows Lion-O to spelldance as much as he wants. He sole needs to pass the easy perform check (don't forget to Take-10).
Chain Spell has a very nice synergy with this build. Reach Spell allows to chain Touch Spells. And Spellguard (the ability!) allows to cast "defensive personal spells" as touch spells. (defensive spell is one that improves AC, increases a saving throw modifier, or grants additional hit points (either by healing wounds or by bestowing temporary hit points)). This allows Lion-O to become the party buffer and share many strong spells with his allies (see spells section).
With the spell Fiendform we get the outsider type (Spellguard should be able to turn it into a Touch Spell for chaining/persisting, since it provides natural armor bonuses). This allows us with (persisted) Polymorph to change into a Leonal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/leonal.htm). We get all the EX special attacks: Pounce, Improved Grab, Rake 1d6+8. With Pounce & medium size on top, this is a well rounded combat form for most situations. We have finally become a Thundercat <3 *roar*
Later (@lvl15) we can chain this combo to share it with all allies. Thundercats HOOOOOOOO! ^^
Selective Spell allows to cast an Anti Magic Field and exclude Humanoids ("----" or "Humans" depending on party) (or Outsider is you have turned into a Leonal) and abuse it to prevent nearby enemies from casting. Shuts off the magic from everything that doesn't match your type. Sure, not a perfect defense, but still very strong. Finally, the enemy (caster?) needs to be aware of this specific exception and imho there is no way to check this before you text it in combat. The question is, who will risk wasting actions in combat to test if the AMF has specific (uncommon) exceptions? So unless the enemies already are of that type, the chances that someone sees trough the defense is very low imho. Note that the specific "Selective Spell" from Spellguard is very uncommon and ain't the same as the feat with the same name. Most casters won't get what is happening here.
Unseen Seer gives us access to the spell Hunter's Eye which provides the build with sneak attack dice.
We also finally get Whirlwind by default. With persisting Heroics we can get it earlier if we want (or pick Combat Reflexes as alternative). After getting it "normally" we can set Heroics always to Combat Reflexes.
16-20
With persisting Shapechange we get access to all kinds of interesting forms. But for the main part we will stay in Leonal form. This enables the SU abilities of the form: Lay on Hands heals up to the Leonal's max HP. Protective Aura is similar to Circle of Protection from Evil. The most interesting SLA for us are Cure Critical Wounds (3/day) and Heal (1/day). The Roar ability is also nice (effectively Holy Word + extra dmg). Imho this is really a nice default form for most stuff you will encounter.
Sculpt Spell gives us some interesting options to alter a spells area. Mostly used for fluff reasons to emulate the Sword of Omens cone magic abilities. Anti-Magic-Cone anyone??^^
As 2nd spell for Advanced Learning we pick Susurrus of the City. This is imho a very handy spell. You need just an abounded building and can ask it all kinds of questions. Sole limitation is that it can sole be answered in a single word and that someone in the city needs to know the answer. So, if you want to sole a crime and the evildoer is still in town, you can easily get his name. If you are creative enough, this can sole many questions. You can ask a question per turn and the spell is even persistable. Share it with your familiar (+pearl of speech) for double the amount of questions.
Finally we can call (summon) a Thundercat via Summon Monster IX: Leonal. Sadly its only one. If you want more there are some options. You need Twin Spell & Repeating Spell.
The first option would be to drop Arcane Trickster for 4 lvl of Incantatrix (gets 2 bonus meta feats).
The other option is via magical locations and imho the more elegant solution here. "Metamagic Storms" (Complete Mage) can give you a free meta-feat for the duration of a year (at which point you need to visit the location again for recharging it). It has an effective value for you WBL of sole 5k gold.
If you get either one of the feats, you can summon 2 Thundercats. And if you get both, you can summon 4 Thundercats.
Magic Items/Rings
(Pls read before continuing further)
Since we can persist so many spells and also have access to wish (for the inherit bonuses to stats), there ain't that much need for most of the regular stuff. The sole normal item that is interesting here is a Ring of Wizardry III to persist more 3rd lvl spells...^^
But there is one specific item that is still kinda a game changer, even for such a strong build. Or shall I better say explicitly for this kind of build. Normally it doesn't see much use in most games, but we will abuse it with Spelldance. It's so strong that it deserves its own section. I'm curious if anyone can guess it? I'll put the item into a spoiler, so you can check if your assumption was right. I have the impression that nobody will guess it right.
Here a lil Hint (or check if you are maybe right with your guess)
"Ring of _ _ _ U_ _ _"
(7 letters; the 4th letter is a "U")
But enough teasing, here it is:
Ring of Theurgy
(Complete Arcana p145)
For normal wizards the Ring of Theurgy (while nice to have) ain't that special. It can store up to 3 spells or any level you can "cast into it". Those spells can than be accessed by using a move action to move em to an unprepared free slot. Since you need to cast the spell into it and later have a slot free to access it again, this is normally used when you have unused spells at the end of a day, or during downtime days.
But...
...this is not a normal wizard build.
Spelldancing has a lil downside and that is that you normally want to avoid Spelldancing within combat. It just takes to long when you consider that most combat sole lasts a few rounds (if at all..). But with the ring, we can safely spelldance in downtimes (out of combat) and cast the spell into it (the ring). We can then either immediately or later prepare the metamagic spell on a regular slot (note that thx due to spelldance, the spellslots-lvl of the original spell doesn't change).
While it still has the downside of a wasting a spellslot in the process, this allows the Spelldancer to make use of metamagic for combat spells and not sole for persisting stuff out of combat. This is a huge deal. If you still don't believe me, here just the tip of the this big iceberg.
[Reach Spell] [Chain Spell] Vampiric Touch
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEjLoHdbVeE) (more HP)
Damage all enemies and get a good chunk of temporary HP in return. A very strong combat starting option. Mainly mentioned because it can fit into a Spell Matrix (see below in the spells section).
[Reach Spell] [Chain Spell] [Persistent Spell] Otto's Irresistible Dance
Can't Stop Raving! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlAImnD9kVY)
Unless your enemies have Spell Resistance or immunity to mindaffecting stuff, they can't stop dancing for the next 24h.
Remind you that they all provoke AoO on their turn and that we have big reach with the Thunderlance.
[Spellguard][Reach Spell] [Chain Spell] [Persistent Spell] Time Stop
Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yz4_1mZarA)
You and all your allies get 24h to either leave/move on, or to re-prepare for the actual situation. Rest 8h, prepare new spells and rebuff how you see it fit. Note that even if you "skip" the fight, you would still get the full encounter XP in 3.5... The abuse potential is just crazy. At any moment you can pop this to have an extra 24h and refresh your spells. This also makes the preparation process for the spells into the Ring of Theurgy very easy because we have all the time we need..^^
Imho these two examples should showcase how broken the item is in the hands of this spelldancing build. There is other cool stuff possible, but I think these two at the best representatives of the gained power spike.
If you did get Twin Spell & Repeating Spell (e.g. via finding/visiting Metamagic Storms) you could also fit the altered Summon M. IX into the ring and then prepare it on a regular slots. The ring is just awesome for this build.
Note on Rings in an Anti-Magic Field:
If we use AMF as sphere, normally our magic items become temporary nonfunctional. But since the AMF spreads from the square below out feet and not from within our body, we can block Line of Sight with wearing simple gloves over the rings. We sole need to wear the item and not to see the item to use it. Problem solved.
Spells
I'm going to give some suggestions to persist & chain, and mention other important spells.
(P) persist this spell
(E) extend this spell (mainly for spells with 24h base duration, thus you sole need to cast those every 2nd day)
(C) can be Chained
0th:
Detect Ghosts (P) - Niche but nice to have if it sole costs a 0th lvl spellslot
Detect Magic (P) - Having it always ready is nice to check for magical threats and magical loot.
Prestidigitation (P) - Why you ask? Because we can. What else you are gonna spend your 0th lvl slot on? ^^
Mage Hand - Sole mentioned since we need it for Arcane Trickster
1st:
Blades of Fire (P) - weapon deals 1d8 extra fire dmg
Shieldbearer (P&C) - Shield floats around you and grants shield bonus without the need of proficiency and any penalties.
Combat Readiness (P&C) - up to +6 insight bonus to Initiative and become unflankable
Expeditious Retreat (P) - gives +30ft speed to all movement modes
Detect Secret Doors (P) - One of the many handy detect spells.
See Invisible (P) - Never be surprised by invisible stuff.
Golem Strike (P) - Allows to Sneak Attack constructs
Master's Touch (P) - Gives Proficiency with a weapon or shield. Sole needed if the DM argues that we lack it for the Thunderlance.
Weapon Shift (P) - This spell is just for the fluff if you would like to have a sword instead of a (thunder)lance. Argue that the unique dmg and reach are special abilities to keep em. In 3.5, Sword of Omen has really a size complex..^^
2nd:
Heroics - Get a fighter bonus feat. Mainly used for Combat Reflexes (or to unlock Whirlwind earlier).
Detect Toughts (P) - Imho one of the best ways to detect hidden enemies
Bladeweave (P) - Once a turn try to daze an enemy you successfully did attack. Will save
Wraithstrike (P) - Since we have a very low BAB, Persisted Wraithstrike is just great. Melee touch attacks with our Thunderlance all day long.
Hunter's Eye (P) - Up to 5d6 Sneak Attack all day long. Yes pls!^^
3rd
Sonorus Hum (P) - Concentrate on a spell for free. Suggested spells:
a) Kiss of Draconic Defiance - Enemy spellcasting requires a Fortitude save (spell's DC). When we use "selective AMF" and the enemy matches our type, they still need to pass this hurdle to cast anything. Due to the duration of "Concentration + 1 round" it effectively becomes persisted too ^^ Imho the best option here.
b) Misleading (P) - Concentrate on your illusionary clone for free.
c) Sonic Rumble (P) - free cone attack 1/2 clvl x d6 dmg.
d) Animate Weapon (P&C) - Mainly mentioned because the Sword of Omen can fight on his own if needed. From 3.5 perspective chaining animated weapons is imho a bad-ass move. And concentrating for free? Yes pls.
Greater Magic Weapon (C) - Buff all weapons of your party. Or an entire set of weapons for "Animate Weapons" (see above).
Arcane Sight (P) - Detect any magic going on.
Fly (P&C) - Flying all day for all your allies.
Ferocity of Sanguine Rage (P) - 1/2 clvl moral bonus on all melee attacks.
Permeable Form (P) - Become incorporeal. Since incorporeal creatures interact normally with force effects, we can use it without any problems. And the thunderlance affects everything (incorporeal or not). A very strong defense.
Greater Mage Armor (P&C) - Gives us +6 armor bonus, even if incorporeal. Yes pls.
Nezram's Amethyst Aura (P&C) - Become immune to Poisons and Diseases
Nondetection (P&C) - Defense against divination spells (e.g. clairaudience/clairvoyance, locate object, and detect spells..)
Spiderskin (P) - Up to +5 to Natural Armor (enhancement), Hide (racial bonus), and saves against Poison (racial).
4th
Sheltered Vitality (P&C) - All allies become immune to ability dmg and fatigue and we can spelldance as much as we want. One of the cornerstones of this build.
Thunderlance - The main ability of this build. A lance with a special reach that can extend up to 20 ft reach. Perfect match for Whirlwind. It made outta pure force and can even dispel low lvl force effects. 3d6 base dmg is a solid value for a weapon. If you want it to be a sword for fluff reasons, look at Weapon Shift (1st lvl).
Greater Mirror Image (P) - A very strong defensive spell that slims down enemies chance to really target us with attacks or spells.
Greater Invisibility (P&C) - Provides us with Sneak Attacks all day long as long as the enemy doesn't have any way to spot us. Gets later replaced by Superior Invisibility.
Detect Scrying (E) - Be aware of any attempts to scry on you or at your location. We become immediately aware of the foe's direction and distance towards us. Imho best combined with a (Sanctum Spell) Greater Teleport (Contingency) that instantly teleports us to the idiot that tried to spy on us. That will be a good shock if the foe suddenly sees Lion-O ready to attack, behind his own back.
Polymorph (P&C) - Get/share Outsider type via the Fiendform spell and polymorph your entire party into Leonal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/leonal.htm). For now (until we get Shapechange) we sole get the nice phyiscal stats and EX special attacks (Pounce, Imp. Grap (Bite), Rake). We have established our lil party of Thundercats. Since Chain Spell can have up to 20 secondary targets (target/casterlvl) we should be able to cover the entire pary including familiars, companions, NPCs and whatever else is tagging along with us.
Ray Deflection (P) - This helps against long range ray spells (from outside our potential AMF range) to deflect em harmlessly away. Imho this is fitting the fluff how the Sword of Omens can deflect ray attacks.
Cone of Ephoria (P) - Enables a standard cone attack that dazes all creatures for 1d6 rounds. Imho this is effectively the Eye of Pandera when Lion-O calls for his allies and the enemies stand in shock/dazed unable to do anything. Sculpt spell gives a bigger cone.
5th
Dragonsight - see twice as for as humans in normal light conditions; Low ligt vision 4 times as far; Darksight 10ft / clvl and Blindsight 5ft /clvl. Nothing should escape our keep cat eyes.
Fiendform (P&C) - While we can persist it, we sole need it to get the Outsider type for Polymorph. So chaning it with your party before your Poly cast is imho enough.
Xorn Movement (P&C) - If you don't want to be incorporeal (see Permeable Form), this is the alternative to move trough the ground.
Sonic Shield (P&C) - Gives +4 deflection bonus to AC and anyone who hits you in melee gets knocked back 5ft on a failed fortitude save. Will break the full attacks of anyone who somehow manages to hit Lion-O.
Unfeattered Heroism (P) - If you play with Action Points, this is just great to "cheat" all day long. Get a free virtual Action Point that you can spend each turn.
6th
Antimagic Field (P) - With selective spell we can exclude our parties type (outsider due to becoming "Thundercats"). If you want to stay true to the show, use sculpt spell to change it into a cone. Both shapes have ups and downs. Either double the size of the bubble (spread) or turn it into a cone. Have fun denying your enemies magic while wielding magic yourselve without any problems.
*My magic is your magic; and your magic is my magic; and my magic is mine!*
Eyes of the Oracle (P&C) - +2 insight bonus to Armor Class and a +2 insight bonus on Reflex saves; ready a standard action for free each turn. This spell opens up the ultimate cheese combo for this build. See "Infinite Time Stop" further below
Chasing Perfection (P&C) - A +4 enchantment bonus to all Ability scores for everybody. A really great buff for the party.
Fires of Purity (P&C) - +1 fire dmg/clvl (max +15) on all melee attacks and if enemies hit you. Half dmg from fire and if it allows a Reflex save for half dmg, take no dmg on a successful save.
Starmantle (P&C) - Nonmagical weapons just shatter on contact with our body. And against magical weapon we can make a DC15 Reflex save to sole take half dmg from that attack.
True Seeing (P&C) - For obvious reasons. Together with all the other perception altering spells, we have a very "keen" sight^^.
Greater Heroism (P&C) - Gives your entire party +4 morale bonus on attack rolls, saves, and skill checks, immunity to fear effects, and temporary hit points (= clvl; max 20).
Superior Resistance (E&C) - We double the 24h base duration and get +6 resistance bonus to saves for our entire party. Gets later exchanged for "Protection from Spells" (+8 resistance bonus).
Contingency - Always a handy spell for those who wanna be always prepared. Imho best used with (Sanctum Spell) Greater Teleport in combination with "Detect Scrying" (reveals the location of the foe) to teleport to anyone who tries to magically spy on us.
Susurrus of the City - cast on the wall of abandoned house, it will try to answer all questions that can be answered in a single word. It can only answer the questions if at least one person in the city knows the answer. Wile this may seem very limiting, it can be very cheesy too. Like asking for the name of the murder at a crime scene. One question can be answered per turn. Since it can be persisted, we can ask questions all day long and get as much info as we want. Just be creative with the questions.
7th
As the Frost (P&C) - Another option to get/share the outsider type (Immunity = effectively an infinite bonus to saves against cold; this qualifies for "Spellguard" to turn it into a touch spell). Comes with immunity to cold and an cold aura.
Energy Immunity (E&C) - We can double the 24h base duration and become immune to one energy type.
Spell Matrix (P) - Can load up to two 3rd lvl spells and release their effects later on as a swift action. If the spells are not higher than 2nd lvl, they can be released together within a single swift action. WE can abuse this similar to the ring of Theurgy for preparing spells with Spelldance. We'll load two "Sanctum - Reach - Chained - Vampiric Touch" spells into it. Note that the spell now counts as 2nd lvl spell (sanctum spell). Use this as combat starter against larger groups of enemies to show which side has the upper hand here^^. Deal a bunch of dmg and gain an enormous amount of temporary HP. If you wanna go really silly, load up the same metamagic feats on Shivering Touch and end the combat immediately..^^
Arcane Spellsurge (P) - Cast all spells "one step faster". Most stuff becomes a swift action and those nasty 1round spells turn into standard action spells. Just great for action management.
8th
Superior Invisibility (P&C) - Unless the enemy has True Sight, he won't be able to detect us (no scent, no sound, sole touch; beats most other detection spells against invisibility).
Protection from Spells (P&C) - Expensive component (1000g) but provides a +8 resistance bonus if you can effort it.
Lighting Ring (P) - Adjacent creatures take 10d6 lightning dmg and we get 2 free lightning bolts that each deal 5d6 dmg every turn. Use this if you expect combat all day long. Sword of Omens is really OP as hell..^^
Mysterious Redirection (P) - If enemy melee and ranged attacker fails a Will save, the attack (made with natural or manufactured weapon) has a 50% chance to be redirected to another adjacent creature. If no target is available the attack fails.
Otto's Irresistible Dance (P&C) - "Just Dance! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTx5mJtw9mU)" Unless you enemy has SR or immunity to mindaffecting effect this will end all combat. As said in the magic item section, we need a Ring of Theurgy to prepare this for actual combat use.
9th
Shapechange (P&C) - For obvious reasons. Mainly to become real (+ all special abilities) Leonal (Thundercats). But the abuse potential is there is you want. But imho Leonal are really great choices. We can still cast and use weapons in this form and it comes with a bunch of great SU abilities (Roar, SLA, Lay on Hands for max HP..). Lion-O only hangs out with other Thundercats (sorry for the lil racist build here btw..)
Shinshee's Spell Shift (P) - Mainly interesting if you want to Widen the area of a spell for this build. E.g widen AFM (40ft sphere or 80ft cone)
Time Stop (P&C) - Give your party another 24h before continuing what you where doing. Need to rest and refresh HP and (arcane) spells? Just rest for 8h and use the remaining time to either plan your next actions or abuse this of method of fast traveling. You could also "speed up" your allies crafting so much that that anything could be crafted in just a few rounds effectively. The abuse potential here is just game breaking. To prepare this for combat use we need the Ring of Theurgy.
Invoke Magic - If your DM should argue that your Thunderlance doesn't work in an AMF (imho by RAW it should work with selective spell) you can rely on this.
Summon Monster IX - Not enough Thundercats? This can summon a Leonal. If you want more than one, you need to get access to Twin Spell and Repeating Spell (e.g. via Metamagic Storms) to get up to 4 Thundercats per spell cast.
Greater Dimension Jumper (P) - Teleport up to 60ft as a swift action. Always handy to reposition between out Full Attack (e.g. Whirlwind to hit more enemies) or ensure that we can Pounce every turn if we want.
Flaw & Fluff Feat
Short Attention Span (Dragon #328) - Can't take 20 and gets a -2 penalty to reroll skill checks.
Spell Thematics - Now we have an excuse to visualize all spells with the thundercats logo^^
Real Sword of Omens
The Thunderlance was an optimizer's choice in the build for reasons. Imho a more fitting adaptation would be the Focus Caster ACF (Dragon #348). We would select Evocation to bind ourselves to a bladed weapon. This becomes our arcane focus item that we always need to access our spells, which is imho very fitting for the adaptation of the Sword of Omens. We could later magically enhance it to become a "morphing" weapon. The downside here is the standard action required for the change and that it offers no reach compared to the Thunderlance. Finally, if we want to (ab)use Anti Magic Field (or Cone^^), it may be problematic for the weapons magic.. If you are fine with the limitations and want the maximum fluff, this is the way to go. Note that this ACF also sacrifices Snarf! (no familiar)
Infinite Time Stop
1. Persist Eyes of the Oracle
2. Prepare [Spellguard][Reach Spell] [Chain Spell] [Persistent Spell] Time Stop into the Ring of Theurgy
3. Ready every turn an action to cast Time Stop if combat should start somehow.
Note that an readied action happens before the triggering action!
4. When now at any point of the day combat starts, we get a 24h time stop.
5. Rest and refresh you spells
6. Persist daily spells again (mainly Eyes of the Oracle)
7. Set the trigger of EotO to the "start of real time / start of combat"
8. Go back to 5. if you need want to freeze the time for another day.
This way not a single round will pass and you can chain as many Persisted Time Stops as you want.
The build has everything. From persisting all spells up to 9th lvl to Pounce and Sneak Attack. As if a regular batman wizard wouldn't be broken enough, Lion-O just takes it to the next lvl with his always readied Infinite Time Stop. This build is always prepared.
I hope you enjoyed this silly TO: Uber-spellguard build. But imho it is fitting for all the magical stuff the Sword of Omens has to offer.
As always, pls drop some comments. Help me to find any remaining bugs. Question or critique (friendly) the rule interactions. Did you like the build? Is it a good adaption? Or what else comes to your mind.
And most importantly: "Did you guessed the magic item??" ^^
PS: As always, I'm sure that small bugfixes & updates will follow..
(an Uber-Spellguard build)
Welcome to my newest TO build. After my Gaara (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?647381)build had a twist in the final lvl turning him into Mumm-Ra, I think it's time to adapt Lion-O as good as possible. Since I want to emulate the Sword of Omens' endless list of abilities we need a wizard to get what what we want here.
Yeah, you did hear me right: "I am going to theoretically optimize a T1 wizard."
You have been warned. The power lvl of this build is not intended for normal play.
While I tried to be as accurate as possible with the adaptation, there are a few optimizer choices and the things left out can be found at the bottom in the Alternate Build Options section. I hope that you all enjoy the build and leave some comments. Now let us dive into the build...
Race: Human
STR: 10
DEX: 14
CON: 16
INT: 16 (mainstat, all points from lvlUp go in here)
WIS: 10
CHA: 10
Alignment: (any non evil: L-N is fitting imho)
LVL
Class
BAB
For
Ref
Wil
Skills
Feats
(H)= Human
(W)= Wizard
(SB)= Swiftblade
(SG)= Spellguard
Class Features
1st
(Combat)
Wizard
+0
+0
+0
+2
Concentration: 4
Hide: 2*
Knowledge (arcana): 4
Perform (dance): 2*
Search: 2*
Spellcraft: 4
Combat Casting
Extend Spell (H)
Dodge (W)
Fighter Bonus Feat as Wizard
2nd
Wizard
+1
+0
+0
+3
Concentration: 5
Hide: 2.5*
Knowledge (arcana): 5
Perform (dance): 2.5*
Search:: 2.5*
Spellcraft: 5
3rd
Wizard
+1
+1
+1
+3
Concentration: 6
Hide: 3*
Knowledge (arcana): 6
Perform (dance): 3*
Search: 3*
Spellcraft: 6
Sanctum Spell
4th
Wizard
+2
+1
+1
+4
Concentration: 7
Hide: 3.5*
Knowledge (arcana): 7
Perform (dance): 3.5*
Search: 3.5*
Spellcraft: 7
5th
(Combat)
Wizard
+2
+1
+1
+5
Concentration: 8
Hide: 4*
Knowledge (arcana): 8
Perform (dance): 4*
Search: 4*
Spellcraft: 8
Mobility (W)
Fighter Bonus Feat as Wizard
6th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+2
+1
+1
+7
Knowledge (arcana): 9
Spot: 4 (+4)
Spellcraft. 9
Endurance
Obligation
Token
Ward Attunement
7th
Wyrm Wizard
+2
+1
+1
+9
Hide: 5* (+2)
Perform (dance): 5* (+2)
Sense Motive: 1* (+2)
Knowledge of the Wyrm
8th
Wyrm Wizard
+3
+1
+1
+10
INT: 18
Hide: 5.5
Perform (dance): 5.5*
Sense Motive: 3.5* (+5)
Spell Research:
"Sheltered Vitality" (4th)
9th
Swiftblade
+4
+1
+3
+12
Perform (dance): 6*
Spot: 8 (+4)
Tumble: 4 (+4)
Persistent Spell
Spring Attack (SB)
Spring Attack (feat)
Swift Surge +1/+0 ft.
10th
Spelldancer
+4
+1
+5
+14
Hide: 6*
Perform (dance): 13 (+7)
Sense Motive: 4*
Spelldance
11th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+5
+1
+5
+15
Hide: 7* (+2)
Perform (dance): 14* (+2)
Search: 5.5 (+3)
Reach Spell (SG)
Metamagic Feat
12th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+5
+2
+6
+15
Hide: 7.5*
Perform (dance): 15* (+2)
Search: 7.5* (+4)
Combat Expertise
Selective Spell
13th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+6
+2
+6
+16
Hide: 8*
Perform (dance): 16* (+2)
Search: 8*
Chain Spell (SG)
Metamagic Feat
Spellguard
14th
Unseen Seer
+6
+2
+6
+18
Hide: 17 (+9)
Perform (dance): 17* (+2)
Damage Bonus +1d6
15th
Unseen Seer
+7
+2
+6
+19
Hide: 18
Perform (dance): 18* (+2)
Spot: 16 (+8)
Whirlwind
Advanced Learning:
Hunter's Eye
Silent Spell
16th
Spellguard
of Silverymoon
+7
+2
+6
+19
INT: 20
Concentration: 12 (+4)
Hide: 19
Perform (dance): 19* (+2)
Spot: 19
Selective Spell
(multiple types)
Spell Power
17th
Unseen Seer
+8
+3
+7
+20
Concentration: 20 (+8)
Hide: 20
Perform (dance): 20* (+2)
Spot: 20
Divination Spell Power +1
18th
Unseen Seer
+9
+3
+7
+20
Concentration: 21
Hide: 21
Perform (dance): 21* (+2)
Sense Motive: 11 (+7)
Spot: 21
Sculpt Spell
Damage Bonus +2d6
19th
Unseen Seer
+9
+3
+7
+21
Concentration: 22
Hide: 22
Perform (dance): 22* (+2)
Sense Motive: 18 (+7)
Spot: 22
Advanced Learning:
Susurrus of the City
Guarded Mind
20th
Unseen Seer
+10
+4
+8
+21
Concentration: 23
Hide: 23
Perform (dance): 23* (+2)
Sense Motive: 23 (+5)
Spot: 23
Tumble: 6 (+2)
Divination Spell Power +2
Familiar: Snarf (Cat with obesity problems..^^)
Give him a pearl of speech for the fluff. I'm not showcasing any new Familiar stuff in this build, even though you can fully buff him up with all your spells (including polymorphing/shapechanging him into a full Thundercat). There is also an alternate build option to sacrifice him for other fluff options.
1-5
We start out as human combat wizard with a bunch of feats required for the build. We have a solid CON score to help our with the otherwise low D4 HP per lvl.
Sanctum Spell is needed for the early entry into Spellguard (requires 4th lvl spellcasting), since it can increase the lvl of the spell we cast by 1. Otherwise we would get problems to fit all the choices made into a build.
Except our feat and (maybe) spell selection we are mostly a normal wizard. (I recommend a regular spell selection for lvling and buying the build specific spells later)
6-10
Thx to Sanctum Spell we can now enter Spellguard.
Wyrm Wizard gives us access to Sheltered Vitality, which we'll need later to persist spells.
Swiftblade gives Spring Attack for free (we are aiming for Whirlwind).
Finally we enter Spelldancer. For now our Spelldancing is still limited by the regular rules. We should still at least persist Thunderlance, the signature weapon for this build. It can change size at will between 5 and 20ft reach, is made out of force, deals 3d6 dmg and can dispel low lvl force effects (max 3rd).
11-15
At lvl 11 with Reach Spell we can finally persist Sheltered Vitality, which makes us immune to ability damage and fatigue. This allows Lion-O to spelldance as much as he wants. He sole needs to pass the easy perform check (don't forget to Take-10).
Chain Spell has a very nice synergy with this build. Reach Spell allows to chain Touch Spells. And Spellguard (the ability!) allows to cast "defensive personal spells" as touch spells. (defensive spell is one that improves AC, increases a saving throw modifier, or grants additional hit points (either by healing wounds or by bestowing temporary hit points)). This allows Lion-O to become the party buffer and share many strong spells with his allies (see spells section).
With the spell Fiendform we get the outsider type (Spellguard should be able to turn it into a Touch Spell for chaining/persisting, since it provides natural armor bonuses). This allows us with (persisted) Polymorph to change into a Leonal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/leonal.htm). We get all the EX special attacks: Pounce, Improved Grab, Rake 1d6+8. With Pounce & medium size on top, this is a well rounded combat form for most situations. We have finally become a Thundercat <3 *roar*
Later (@lvl15) we can chain this combo to share it with all allies. Thundercats HOOOOOOOO! ^^
Selective Spell allows to cast an Anti Magic Field and exclude Humanoids ("----" or "Humans" depending on party) (or Outsider is you have turned into a Leonal) and abuse it to prevent nearby enemies from casting. Shuts off the magic from everything that doesn't match your type. Sure, not a perfect defense, but still very strong. Finally, the enemy (caster?) needs to be aware of this specific exception and imho there is no way to check this before you text it in combat. The question is, who will risk wasting actions in combat to test if the AMF has specific (uncommon) exceptions? So unless the enemies already are of that type, the chances that someone sees trough the defense is very low imho. Note that the specific "Selective Spell" from Spellguard is very uncommon and ain't the same as the feat with the same name. Most casters won't get what is happening here.
Unseen Seer gives us access to the spell Hunter's Eye which provides the build with sneak attack dice.
We also finally get Whirlwind by default. With persisting Heroics we can get it earlier if we want (or pick Combat Reflexes as alternative). After getting it "normally" we can set Heroics always to Combat Reflexes.
16-20
With persisting Shapechange we get access to all kinds of interesting forms. But for the main part we will stay in Leonal form. This enables the SU abilities of the form: Lay on Hands heals up to the Leonal's max HP. Protective Aura is similar to Circle of Protection from Evil. The most interesting SLA for us are Cure Critical Wounds (3/day) and Heal (1/day). The Roar ability is also nice (effectively Holy Word + extra dmg). Imho this is really a nice default form for most stuff you will encounter.
Sculpt Spell gives us some interesting options to alter a spells area. Mostly used for fluff reasons to emulate the Sword of Omens cone magic abilities. Anti-Magic-Cone anyone??^^
As 2nd spell for Advanced Learning we pick Susurrus of the City. This is imho a very handy spell. You need just an abounded building and can ask it all kinds of questions. Sole limitation is that it can sole be answered in a single word and that someone in the city needs to know the answer. So, if you want to sole a crime and the evildoer is still in town, you can easily get his name. If you are creative enough, this can sole many questions. You can ask a question per turn and the spell is even persistable. Share it with your familiar (+pearl of speech) for double the amount of questions.
Finally we can call (summon) a Thundercat via Summon Monster IX: Leonal. Sadly its only one. If you want more there are some options. You need Twin Spell & Repeating Spell.
The first option would be to drop Arcane Trickster for 4 lvl of Incantatrix (gets 2 bonus meta feats).
The other option is via magical locations and imho the more elegant solution here. "Metamagic Storms" (Complete Mage) can give you a free meta-feat for the duration of a year (at which point you need to visit the location again for recharging it). It has an effective value for you WBL of sole 5k gold.
If you get either one of the feats, you can summon 2 Thundercats. And if you get both, you can summon 4 Thundercats.
Magic Items/Rings
(Pls read before continuing further)
Since we can persist so many spells and also have access to wish (for the inherit bonuses to stats), there ain't that much need for most of the regular stuff. The sole normal item that is interesting here is a Ring of Wizardry III to persist more 3rd lvl spells...^^
But there is one specific item that is still kinda a game changer, even for such a strong build. Or shall I better say explicitly for this kind of build. Normally it doesn't see much use in most games, but we will abuse it with Spelldance. It's so strong that it deserves its own section. I'm curious if anyone can guess it? I'll put the item into a spoiler, so you can check if your assumption was right. I have the impression that nobody will guess it right.
Here a lil Hint (or check if you are maybe right with your guess)
"Ring of _ _ _ U_ _ _"
(7 letters; the 4th letter is a "U")
But enough teasing, here it is:
Ring of Theurgy
(Complete Arcana p145)
For normal wizards the Ring of Theurgy (while nice to have) ain't that special. It can store up to 3 spells or any level you can "cast into it". Those spells can than be accessed by using a move action to move em to an unprepared free slot. Since you need to cast the spell into it and later have a slot free to access it again, this is normally used when you have unused spells at the end of a day, or during downtime days.
But...
...this is not a normal wizard build.
Spelldancing has a lil downside and that is that you normally want to avoid Spelldancing within combat. It just takes to long when you consider that most combat sole lasts a few rounds (if at all..). But with the ring, we can safely spelldance in downtimes (out of combat) and cast the spell into it (the ring). We can then either immediately or later prepare the metamagic spell on a regular slot (note that thx due to spelldance, the spellslots-lvl of the original spell doesn't change).
While it still has the downside of a wasting a spellslot in the process, this allows the Spelldancer to make use of metamagic for combat spells and not sole for persisting stuff out of combat. This is a huge deal. If you still don't believe me, here just the tip of the this big iceberg.
[Reach Spell] [Chain Spell] Vampiric Touch
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEjLoHdbVeE) (more HP)
Damage all enemies and get a good chunk of temporary HP in return. A very strong combat starting option. Mainly mentioned because it can fit into a Spell Matrix (see below in the spells section).
[Reach Spell] [Chain Spell] [Persistent Spell] Otto's Irresistible Dance
Can't Stop Raving! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlAImnD9kVY)
Unless your enemies have Spell Resistance or immunity to mindaffecting stuff, they can't stop dancing for the next 24h.
Remind you that they all provoke AoO on their turn and that we have big reach with the Thunderlance.
[Spellguard][Reach Spell] [Chain Spell] [Persistent Spell] Time Stop
Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yz4_1mZarA)
You and all your allies get 24h to either leave/move on, or to re-prepare for the actual situation. Rest 8h, prepare new spells and rebuff how you see it fit. Note that even if you "skip" the fight, you would still get the full encounter XP in 3.5... The abuse potential is just crazy. At any moment you can pop this to have an extra 24h and refresh your spells. This also makes the preparation process for the spells into the Ring of Theurgy very easy because we have all the time we need..^^
Imho these two examples should showcase how broken the item is in the hands of this spelldancing build. There is other cool stuff possible, but I think these two at the best representatives of the gained power spike.
If you did get Twin Spell & Repeating Spell (e.g. via finding/visiting Metamagic Storms) you could also fit the altered Summon M. IX into the ring and then prepare it on a regular slots. The ring is just awesome for this build.
Note on Rings in an Anti-Magic Field:
If we use AMF as sphere, normally our magic items become temporary nonfunctional. But since the AMF spreads from the square below out feet and not from within our body, we can block Line of Sight with wearing simple gloves over the rings. We sole need to wear the item and not to see the item to use it. Problem solved.
Spells
I'm going to give some suggestions to persist & chain, and mention other important spells.
(P) persist this spell
(E) extend this spell (mainly for spells with 24h base duration, thus you sole need to cast those every 2nd day)
(C) can be Chained
0th:
Detect Ghosts (P) - Niche but nice to have if it sole costs a 0th lvl spellslot
Detect Magic (P) - Having it always ready is nice to check for magical threats and magical loot.
Prestidigitation (P) - Why you ask? Because we can. What else you are gonna spend your 0th lvl slot on? ^^
Mage Hand - Sole mentioned since we need it for Arcane Trickster
1st:
Blades of Fire (P) - weapon deals 1d8 extra fire dmg
Shieldbearer (P&C) - Shield floats around you and grants shield bonus without the need of proficiency and any penalties.
Combat Readiness (P&C) - up to +6 insight bonus to Initiative and become unflankable
Expeditious Retreat (P) - gives +30ft speed to all movement modes
Detect Secret Doors (P) - One of the many handy detect spells.
See Invisible (P) - Never be surprised by invisible stuff.
Golem Strike (P) - Allows to Sneak Attack constructs
Master's Touch (P) - Gives Proficiency with a weapon or shield. Sole needed if the DM argues that we lack it for the Thunderlance.
Weapon Shift (P) - This spell is just for the fluff if you would like to have a sword instead of a (thunder)lance. Argue that the unique dmg and reach are special abilities to keep em. In 3.5, Sword of Omen has really a size complex..^^
2nd:
Heroics - Get a fighter bonus feat. Mainly used for Combat Reflexes (or to unlock Whirlwind earlier).
Detect Toughts (P) - Imho one of the best ways to detect hidden enemies
Bladeweave (P) - Once a turn try to daze an enemy you successfully did attack. Will save
Wraithstrike (P) - Since we have a very low BAB, Persisted Wraithstrike is just great. Melee touch attacks with our Thunderlance all day long.
Hunter's Eye (P) - Up to 5d6 Sneak Attack all day long. Yes pls!^^
3rd
Sonorus Hum (P) - Concentrate on a spell for free. Suggested spells:
a) Kiss of Draconic Defiance - Enemy spellcasting requires a Fortitude save (spell's DC). When we use "selective AMF" and the enemy matches our type, they still need to pass this hurdle to cast anything. Due to the duration of "Concentration + 1 round" it effectively becomes persisted too ^^ Imho the best option here.
b) Misleading (P) - Concentrate on your illusionary clone for free.
c) Sonic Rumble (P) - free cone attack 1/2 clvl x d6 dmg.
d) Animate Weapon (P&C) - Mainly mentioned because the Sword of Omen can fight on his own if needed. From 3.5 perspective chaining animated weapons is imho a bad-ass move. And concentrating for free? Yes pls.
Greater Magic Weapon (C) - Buff all weapons of your party. Or an entire set of weapons for "Animate Weapons" (see above).
Arcane Sight (P) - Detect any magic going on.
Fly (P&C) - Flying all day for all your allies.
Ferocity of Sanguine Rage (P) - 1/2 clvl moral bonus on all melee attacks.
Permeable Form (P) - Become incorporeal. Since incorporeal creatures interact normally with force effects, we can use it without any problems. And the thunderlance affects everything (incorporeal or not). A very strong defense.
Greater Mage Armor (P&C) - Gives us +6 armor bonus, even if incorporeal. Yes pls.
Nezram's Amethyst Aura (P&C) - Become immune to Poisons and Diseases
Nondetection (P&C) - Defense against divination spells (e.g. clairaudience/clairvoyance, locate object, and detect spells..)
Spiderskin (P) - Up to +5 to Natural Armor (enhancement), Hide (racial bonus), and saves against Poison (racial).
4th
Sheltered Vitality (P&C) - All allies become immune to ability dmg and fatigue and we can spelldance as much as we want. One of the cornerstones of this build.
Thunderlance - The main ability of this build. A lance with a special reach that can extend up to 20 ft reach. Perfect match for Whirlwind. It made outta pure force and can even dispel low lvl force effects. 3d6 base dmg is a solid value for a weapon. If you want it to be a sword for fluff reasons, look at Weapon Shift (1st lvl).
Greater Mirror Image (P) - A very strong defensive spell that slims down enemies chance to really target us with attacks or spells.
Greater Invisibility (P&C) - Provides us with Sneak Attacks all day long as long as the enemy doesn't have any way to spot us. Gets later replaced by Superior Invisibility.
Detect Scrying (E) - Be aware of any attempts to scry on you or at your location. We become immediately aware of the foe's direction and distance towards us. Imho best combined with a (Sanctum Spell) Greater Teleport (Contingency) that instantly teleports us to the idiot that tried to spy on us. That will be a good shock if the foe suddenly sees Lion-O ready to attack, behind his own back.
Polymorph (P&C) - Get/share Outsider type via the Fiendform spell and polymorph your entire party into Leonal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/leonal.htm). For now (until we get Shapechange) we sole get the nice phyiscal stats and EX special attacks (Pounce, Imp. Grap (Bite), Rake). We have established our lil party of Thundercats. Since Chain Spell can have up to 20 secondary targets (target/casterlvl) we should be able to cover the entire pary including familiars, companions, NPCs and whatever else is tagging along with us.
Ray Deflection (P) - This helps against long range ray spells (from outside our potential AMF range) to deflect em harmlessly away. Imho this is fitting the fluff how the Sword of Omens can deflect ray attacks.
Cone of Ephoria (P) - Enables a standard cone attack that dazes all creatures for 1d6 rounds. Imho this is effectively the Eye of Pandera when Lion-O calls for his allies and the enemies stand in shock/dazed unable to do anything. Sculpt spell gives a bigger cone.
5th
Dragonsight - see twice as for as humans in normal light conditions; Low ligt vision 4 times as far; Darksight 10ft / clvl and Blindsight 5ft /clvl. Nothing should escape our keep cat eyes.
Fiendform (P&C) - While we can persist it, we sole need it to get the Outsider type for Polymorph. So chaning it with your party before your Poly cast is imho enough.
Xorn Movement (P&C) - If you don't want to be incorporeal (see Permeable Form), this is the alternative to move trough the ground.
Sonic Shield (P&C) - Gives +4 deflection bonus to AC and anyone who hits you in melee gets knocked back 5ft on a failed fortitude save. Will break the full attacks of anyone who somehow manages to hit Lion-O.
Unfeattered Heroism (P) - If you play with Action Points, this is just great to "cheat" all day long. Get a free virtual Action Point that you can spend each turn.
6th
Antimagic Field (P) - With selective spell we can exclude our parties type (outsider due to becoming "Thundercats"). If you want to stay true to the show, use sculpt spell to change it into a cone. Both shapes have ups and downs. Either double the size of the bubble (spread) or turn it into a cone. Have fun denying your enemies magic while wielding magic yourselve without any problems.
*My magic is your magic; and your magic is my magic; and my magic is mine!*
Eyes of the Oracle (P&C) - +2 insight bonus to Armor Class and a +2 insight bonus on Reflex saves; ready a standard action for free each turn. This spell opens up the ultimate cheese combo for this build. See "Infinite Time Stop" further below
Chasing Perfection (P&C) - A +4 enchantment bonus to all Ability scores for everybody. A really great buff for the party.
Fires of Purity (P&C) - +1 fire dmg/clvl (max +15) on all melee attacks and if enemies hit you. Half dmg from fire and if it allows a Reflex save for half dmg, take no dmg on a successful save.
Starmantle (P&C) - Nonmagical weapons just shatter on contact with our body. And against magical weapon we can make a DC15 Reflex save to sole take half dmg from that attack.
True Seeing (P&C) - For obvious reasons. Together with all the other perception altering spells, we have a very "keen" sight^^.
Greater Heroism (P&C) - Gives your entire party +4 morale bonus on attack rolls, saves, and skill checks, immunity to fear effects, and temporary hit points (= clvl; max 20).
Superior Resistance (E&C) - We double the 24h base duration and get +6 resistance bonus to saves for our entire party. Gets later exchanged for "Protection from Spells" (+8 resistance bonus).
Contingency - Always a handy spell for those who wanna be always prepared. Imho best used with (Sanctum Spell) Greater Teleport in combination with "Detect Scrying" (reveals the location of the foe) to teleport to anyone who tries to magically spy on us.
Susurrus of the City - cast on the wall of abandoned house, it will try to answer all questions that can be answered in a single word. It can only answer the questions if at least one person in the city knows the answer. Wile this may seem very limiting, it can be very cheesy too. Like asking for the name of the murder at a crime scene. One question can be answered per turn. Since it can be persisted, we can ask questions all day long and get as much info as we want. Just be creative with the questions.
7th
As the Frost (P&C) - Another option to get/share the outsider type (Immunity = effectively an infinite bonus to saves against cold; this qualifies for "Spellguard" to turn it into a touch spell). Comes with immunity to cold and an cold aura.
Energy Immunity (E&C) - We can double the 24h base duration and become immune to one energy type.
Spell Matrix (P) - Can load up to two 3rd lvl spells and release their effects later on as a swift action. If the spells are not higher than 2nd lvl, they can be released together within a single swift action. WE can abuse this similar to the ring of Theurgy for preparing spells with Spelldance. We'll load two "Sanctum - Reach - Chained - Vampiric Touch" spells into it. Note that the spell now counts as 2nd lvl spell (sanctum spell). Use this as combat starter against larger groups of enemies to show which side has the upper hand here^^. Deal a bunch of dmg and gain an enormous amount of temporary HP. If you wanna go really silly, load up the same metamagic feats on Shivering Touch and end the combat immediately..^^
Arcane Spellsurge (P) - Cast all spells "one step faster". Most stuff becomes a swift action and those nasty 1round spells turn into standard action spells. Just great for action management.
8th
Superior Invisibility (P&C) - Unless the enemy has True Sight, he won't be able to detect us (no scent, no sound, sole touch; beats most other detection spells against invisibility).
Protection from Spells (P&C) - Expensive component (1000g) but provides a +8 resistance bonus if you can effort it.
Lighting Ring (P) - Adjacent creatures take 10d6 lightning dmg and we get 2 free lightning bolts that each deal 5d6 dmg every turn. Use this if you expect combat all day long. Sword of Omens is really OP as hell..^^
Mysterious Redirection (P) - If enemy melee and ranged attacker fails a Will save, the attack (made with natural or manufactured weapon) has a 50% chance to be redirected to another adjacent creature. If no target is available the attack fails.
Otto's Irresistible Dance (P&C) - "Just Dance! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTx5mJtw9mU)" Unless you enemy has SR or immunity to mindaffecting effect this will end all combat. As said in the magic item section, we need a Ring of Theurgy to prepare this for actual combat use.
9th
Shapechange (P&C) - For obvious reasons. Mainly to become real (+ all special abilities) Leonal (Thundercats). But the abuse potential is there is you want. But imho Leonal are really great choices. We can still cast and use weapons in this form and it comes with a bunch of great SU abilities (Roar, SLA, Lay on Hands for max HP..). Lion-O only hangs out with other Thundercats (sorry for the lil racist build here btw..)
Shinshee's Spell Shift (P) - Mainly interesting if you want to Widen the area of a spell for this build. E.g widen AFM (40ft sphere or 80ft cone)
Time Stop (P&C) - Give your party another 24h before continuing what you where doing. Need to rest and refresh HP and (arcane) spells? Just rest for 8h and use the remaining time to either plan your next actions or abuse this of method of fast traveling. You could also "speed up" your allies crafting so much that that anything could be crafted in just a few rounds effectively. The abuse potential here is just game breaking. To prepare this for combat use we need the Ring of Theurgy.
Invoke Magic - If your DM should argue that your Thunderlance doesn't work in an AMF (imho by RAW it should work with selective spell) you can rely on this.
Summon Monster IX - Not enough Thundercats? This can summon a Leonal. If you want more than one, you need to get access to Twin Spell and Repeating Spell (e.g. via Metamagic Storms) to get up to 4 Thundercats per spell cast.
Greater Dimension Jumper (P) - Teleport up to 60ft as a swift action. Always handy to reposition between out Full Attack (e.g. Whirlwind to hit more enemies) or ensure that we can Pounce every turn if we want.
Flaw & Fluff Feat
Short Attention Span (Dragon #328) - Can't take 20 and gets a -2 penalty to reroll skill checks.
Spell Thematics - Now we have an excuse to visualize all spells with the thundercats logo^^
Real Sword of Omens
The Thunderlance was an optimizer's choice in the build for reasons. Imho a more fitting adaptation would be the Focus Caster ACF (Dragon #348). We would select Evocation to bind ourselves to a bladed weapon. This becomes our arcane focus item that we always need to access our spells, which is imho very fitting for the adaptation of the Sword of Omens. We could later magically enhance it to become a "morphing" weapon. The downside here is the standard action required for the change and that it offers no reach compared to the Thunderlance. Finally, if we want to (ab)use Anti Magic Field (or Cone^^), it may be problematic for the weapons magic.. If you are fine with the limitations and want the maximum fluff, this is the way to go. Note that this ACF also sacrifices Snarf! (no familiar)
Infinite Time Stop
1. Persist Eyes of the Oracle
2. Prepare [Spellguard][Reach Spell] [Chain Spell] [Persistent Spell] Time Stop into the Ring of Theurgy
3. Ready every turn an action to cast Time Stop if combat should start somehow.
Note that an readied action happens before the triggering action!
4. When now at any point of the day combat starts, we get a 24h time stop.
5. Rest and refresh you spells
6. Persist daily spells again (mainly Eyes of the Oracle)
7. Set the trigger of EotO to the "start of real time / start of combat"
8. Go back to 5. if you need want to freeze the time for another day.
This way not a single round will pass and you can chain as many Persisted Time Stops as you want.
The build has everything. From persisting all spells up to 9th lvl to Pounce and Sneak Attack. As if a regular batman wizard wouldn't be broken enough, Lion-O just takes it to the next lvl with his always readied Infinite Time Stop. This build is always prepared.
I hope you enjoyed this silly TO: Uber-spellguard build. But imho it is fitting for all the magical stuff the Sword of Omens has to offer.
As always, pls drop some comments. Help me to find any remaining bugs. Question or critique (friendly) the rule interactions. Did you like the build? Is it a good adaption? Or what else comes to your mind.
And most importantly: "Did you guessed the magic item??" ^^
PS: As always, I'm sure that small bugfixes & updates will follow..