Wild mage

[Nidogg]

This PRC appeals to me (read DELTA ATTACK!) but is there any reason I shouldnt take this? appart from the CR reducing?

[El Dorado]

I can't think of any. In fact, I'd capitalize on it by choosing several chaos/destroy/bwahahaha known spells (ruby ray of reversal, rust ray, reciprocal gyre, etc). The fact that one of your class abilities can make you occasionally dangerous to your allies makes me smile.

[Optimystik]

If you like chaos, then it's for you. There's no crunch reason to avoid it.

[Brendan]

I created a character to try it out as well. it seems like a lot of fun. in addition, the d6 to your caster level-3 slightly leans towards the plus side rather than the minus side. very fun to do.

[PhoenixRivers]

I created a character to try it out as well. it seems like a lot of fun. in addition, the d6 to your caster level-3 slightly leans towards the plus side rather than the minus side. very fun to do.

YMMV, but many DM's allow Practiced Spellcaster to offset that.

[Tinydwarfman]

The only thing that hurts is the fact that you're not taking other better prestige classes, like the Fatespinner, but it's pretty decent.

[Evard]

Don't forget the blood magus (blood mage?) very very cool prestige class that has a great "teleport" ability ;)

You could potentially kill any political figure with that blood magus :D

[The Glyphstone]

Don't forget the blood magus (blood mage?) very very cool prestige class that has a great "teleport" ability ;)

You could potentially kill any political figure with that blood magus :D

You could kill any political figure with a straight wizard, more safely, without losing spellcasting advancement, and without having to die first.

Blood Magus is very cool. It's nothing that should be confused with good.

[Gan The Grey]

The class ability that lets you roll twice for any randomly generated outcome of a magic item and pick one is the tits. Makes a Rod of Wonder really fun, especially if you use the Greater Rod of Wonder variant. Plus, and I only got to do this once, since the Deck of Many Things is technically a magic item with a random outcome, I was allowed to draw two cards and picked the one I liked best.

It was awesome.

[Starbuck_II]

Last time I was a Wild Mage, DM didn't let me find/buy a Rod of wonder.

[Ernir]

Last time I was a Wild Mage, DM didn't let me find/buy a Rod of wonder.

You wanted a Rod of Wonder and your DM didn't give you access to one? For shame.

[Nidogg]

cant you just do the wild strike or the reckless dewomer? A Rod of wonder would be a bit of a waste when you can make it yourself....

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Ask your party members how they feel about random deflector before entering the class.

[Nidogg]

It wont really matter. one is a Initiate of the sevenfold so he can just say NO, one is a beguiler who wouldnt care less (cos thats what beguilers do) and one is another class.

[Swooper]

YMMV, but many DM's allow Practiced Spellcaster to offset that.

Note that there are two interpretations of the RAW of how Practiced Spellcaster + Wild Mage works...

The first one is that the Wild Mage random caster level is applied first, and if it results in a CL loss, Practiced Spellcaster kicks in and fixes it up to your HD.

The second one is that Practiced Spellcaster applies first, fixing the permanent -3 to CL the Wild Mage class gives you upon entry. Then you add +1d6 to your CL each time you cast a spell, resulting in a CL 1-6 levels above your HD.

I lean towards the second interpretation being correct. I can't quote the source, but I've heard there's a rule somewhere that says basically "if the order you apply two bonuses in matters, pick the order that is best for you".

[Nidogg]

I feel that spoils the whole "Im a student of chaos or am i?" Cos chaos has bad and good parts not blast or blast a bit more parts.

[appending_doom]

Note that there are two interpretations of the RAW of how Practiced Spellcaster + Wild Mage works...

The first one is that the Wild Mage random caster level is applied first, and if it results in a CL loss, Practiced Spellcaster kicks in and fixes it up to your HD.

The second one is that Practiced Spellcaster applies first, fixing the permanent -3 to CL the Wild Mage class gives you upon entry. Then you add +1d6 to your CL each time you cast a spell, resulting in a CL 1-6 levels above your HD.

I lean towards the second interpretation being correct. I can't quote the source, but I've heard there's a rule somewhere that says basically "if the order you apply two bonuses in matters, pick the order that is best for you".

FWIW, I seem to recall the FAQ file taking the former interpretation (I know FAQ isn't RAW, but in these ambiguous cases I know I tend to lean towards their interpretation).

[AbyssKnight]

For Practiced Caster+Wild Mage,

The ruling I saw (I think in the FAQ, but can't check at work) is while you can apply CL effects in the order you wish, you have to apply each ability "whole."

That is, you can't apply Practiced Caster "in the middle" of Wild Magic because the -3+1d6 is all one effect. You could apply it before or after, so you still get free CL boost just not all the time.

Wild Mage also works well with any PrC that gives Spell Power, since Spell Power can boost your CL above character level.

[DragoonWraith]

By RAW, when order matters it always takes effect in the order most beneficial to the player. Therefore, RAW, the -3 comes before the +4, canceling it out. But the +3 comes after the +4, so even if you lost a caster level somewhere, you'd still be at ECL +3 CL.

[Ernir]

By RAW, when order matters it always takes effect in the order most beneficial to the player. Therefore, RAW, the -3 comes before the +4, canceling it out. But the +3 comes after the +4, so even if you lost a caster level somewhere, you'd still be at ECL +3 CL.

+3? I think you mean +1d6.

Anyway, what AbyssKnight means is that both the -3 reduction and +1d6 addition are part of the same ability, called "Wild Magic". Under that interpretation, you aren't dealing with a +4 (max = HD), a -3, and a +1d6, as three separate ablities, all of which are being applied in the most beneficial order, but a +4 (max = HD) and a 1d6-3.

[martyrX]

I suggest you get your hands on some more wild mage material - the 2nd edition tome of magic, or Wild Spellcraft by natural 20 press. both offer much more interesting takes on wild mages including wild magic spells, wild mage feats, etc. In the tome of magic, a wild mage is a specialist mage in wild magic with no prohibited schools.

One of my campaigns (which has been going since 2nd edition, converted to 3.5) has a wild mage PC. He adds a so many great elements to the game - any spell can surge, he can cast some crazy wild mage spells (making other mages surge, creating wild magic zones, and a couple custom made ones)...it is a DMs dream! At the moment (because of surges), he leaves wyvern tracks and cracks in the pavement when he walks, his right eye bugs out of his head, and he can't wake up in the morning without being smacked silly. He's accidentally fireballed the party many times, and once turned himself to stone. Every once in a while tho, he does something way beyond his normal power level.

Great class that has been tamed in 3.5.