[3.5]Non-Optimized Mystic Theurge seeks advice/opinions

[Dratsabre Tsabala]

"I have come to the belief that we are all, every one of us, lenses through which the vast and unimaginable truth of being finds focus, and that whatever measure of that truth is distilled into each life deserves to be recorded simply for its own sake.

It is said that there are planes unknowably infinite; thus, there is infinite truth. Conscious life and the weave of magic extend out to the farthest corners of each and every one of those planes; thus, there is a means to comprehend that truth in its totality."

This is the creed of my half-elf Wizard 7/Loremaster 3, who recently found himself in the waiting room between death and resurrection while the party ponied up the dough to pay the local cleric. While he was there, he had a little talk with a few mysterious supernatural intelligences, and has subsequently come to be of the opinion that he's been neglecting a necessary aspect of his quest for knowledge. I just multiclassed him into Cleric heading into Mystic Theurge, in an attempt to "garner a more profound awareness" of the "truth behind it all." I've got a few problems, though:

First and foremost, I'm not sure which Cleric domains would best represent his philosophy. All of the official WotC 3.5 material is open to me, but I don't know that I've found any two that quite fit. Knowledge and Fate? Knowledge and Balance? Oracle and Spell? I'd be grateful for some input here.

Second of all, optimization takes a marked backseat to storytelling in this campaign, but I've still got to stay alive if I want to enjoy my Storyline XP. Without taking a dip into any other classes, does anyone know any tricks to improve this guy's survivability? I'd be especially interested in any methods (aside from acquiring a Twilight Mithral Chain Shirt ) that would help me to utilize my newfound armor proficiencies without having to worry so much about Arcane Spell Failure.

If you've been kind enough not to tl;dr this, thank you. Your answers, and any stray thoughts you may have concerning the character or the situation, would be greatly appreciated.

[Tyndmyr]

Well, this is remarkably sub-optimal, given that you've chosen to enter cleric so late. Be aware that for all practical purposes, you'll be a wizard with 3 lost caster levels.

Actually wearing armor isn't worth it. Apparently WOTC decided that anything that allows arcane casters to wear heavy armor must be quite expensive in terms of character options, often costing caster levels or large quantities of gold or both to try to mitigate it.

Where you can get defensive buffs is by carefully selecting spells. Given your loremaster background, this fits nicely, and things that provide miss chances(start with mirror image) help quite a bit in a pinch.

Edit: If you haven't bitten off the cleric levels yet, use one of the early entry methods(taking precocious apprentice or sanctum spell as a feat) to allow you to get by with one level of cleric instead of three. This allows you your cleric fluff without completely killing your arcane spellcasting. Its still an investment of a level, a feat, and throwing PrC options into getting low level divine casting, so it's still relatively low powered...but it avoids gimping you into uselessness.

[Dratsabre Tsabala]

Well, this is remarkably sub-optimal, given that you've chosen to enter cleric so late. Be aware that for all practical purposes, you'll be a wizard with 3 lost caster levels.

Yeah, I've actually kind of been dreading taking this path, but it just makes the most sense for the character. I might be able to justify jacking around with the flavor bits for Void Disciple and taking that instead. If I do say so myself, I tend to be quite resourceful with Arcane casters and my GM is kind of hamfisted with them, so whatever I do, if I take Practiced Spellcaster and I'm careful about my abjurations, I'm not going to be losing out on too much (effective) potency.

Thanks a lot for chiming in, anyway. This really helps. The more I think about it, the more I can't understand what the heck I was thinking. Maybe I can find something a little more effective in Complete Divine or Complete Champion, if I can get my hands on them. Much obliged for the sobering words.

[Tyndmyr]

What you want is Ur-priest. It requires only two levels to get second level spells, slowing your wizard side down less.

It also gets 9th level slots in ten levels, so your divine side will actually be useful eventually...about the time you would otherwise be getting 9th level slots from wizard. It's still a power hit now, but it's better in the long term.

It requires two feats and a batch of skills, though, and you may want to refluff some stuff. Like the evil requirement.

[Eldariel]

I'd actually consider continuing as a Wizard but taking Arcane Disciple [CDiv] few times to add some Domains to your repertoire and expand your spell choices while at it; fluff-wise it can be very much the same, but for all practical purposes, the opportunity cost is far lesser.

Ur-Priest works but requires heavy refluffing to fit your goals. As it stands, Cleric doesn't really serve your purposes though. As for armor...well, Feycraft [DMGII] Mithril [Core] Twilight [MiC] Breastplate has Arcane Spell Failure 0%.

[Tyndmyr]

I'd actually consider continuing as a Wizard but taking Arcane Disciple [CDiv] few times to add some Domains to your repertoire and expand your spell choices while at it; fluff-wise it can be very much the same, but for all practical purposes, the opportunity cost is far lesser.

That's actually not a bad idea. Along the same lines is Domain Wizard. If you're a generalist anyway, it costs you nothing, and you pick up a domain.

Sure, you technically cast it as arcane, but it fits the feel of a wizard who picked up some divine knowledge decently enough. Some of the domains do include normally divine spells, such as the storm domain.

[Gnaeus]

Retrain a feat into still spell. Memorize:
1. spells with no somatic components
2. spells modified by still spell
3. Long term buffs that you can cast in the morning before you put on armor (like false life, contingency, overland flight)
4. spells castable outside combat that you can remove your armor to cast (Identify, scrying)

It isn't as optimal as Eldariel's advice, but it can be made to work.

[Godskook]

If your DM allows access to Rainbow Servant on a text trumps table basis(which is RAW), then that would be a fairly appropriate way to accomplish your fluff without going MT. If not*, possibly talk to him about a compromise between the text and table.

*If your DM prefers the table to the text, remember this for later, as there's a few places where table entries are more useful than the text descriptions, iirc, and your DM has just set the precedent for you.

[Jacob Orlove]

You should be able to qualify for the Divine Oracle prestige class without much effort. It takes some ranks of Knowledge: Religion, and Skill Focus in Knowledge: Religion (plus a couple divination spells). You should already have a Skill Focus: Knowledge feat for Loremaster, which you might be able to retrain.

The PrC is in Complete Divine. Take a look, it may be a good way to match the character development you want.

[Gnaeus]

The PrC is in Complete Divine. Take a look, it may be a good way to match the character development you want.

This is a good suggestion.

[Dratsabre Tsabala]

Again, much obliged, all. The GM ruled that I was already locked into taking Cleric (even though I hadn't even leveled up yet, on paper), but I got him to approve the Precocious Apprentice cheese after a brief debate over the RAW, and he's letting me custom-craft a pretty potent feat to help strengthen my character's theme. All told, I actually ended up making out like a bandit.

I am definitely saving up for a Feycraft Mithral Twilight Breastplate, too. Thanks a lot for the ideas, guys and dolls. I tend to gravitate toward playing sages, mystics, and tome-hoarders, so I'll be squirreling the rest of these ideas away for a rainy day.