PHB + 1 Build

[Particle_Man]

If your DM doesn’t find it too cheesy and you use unearthed arcana, see if the level adjustment buy off rule can be applied to your character. That might give you one or two reductions of Level adjustment which you could then use for class levels.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

If your DM doesn’t find it too cheesy and you use unearthed arcana, see if the level adjustment buy off rule can be applied to your character. That might give you one or two reductions of Level adjustment which you could then use for class levels.

Also...gestalt? What I've read on this forum ballparks gestalt at about +2 LA. See if you can make use of that, as well as LA-buyoff.

[Jay R]

Lvl 15? Core+1? Races Of Stone.

Shadowcraft Mage.
Gnome Wizard ACF.
Earth Spell.

Gnome Wizard 10/Shadowcraft Mage 5. Simple build. No incantatrix, so you can't go full metamagic abuse, and no Persistent Spell, so you can't play a gish. But you can prepare (Heightened) Silent Image in every slot from lvl 0 to 8 and effectively be a spontaneous caster with a spells known list the size of two spell schools (primarily combat spells). Even true seeing isn't perfect against you. Some good utility wands and you should be covered.

I came here to recommend exactly this. A lot of the ideal Shadowcraft Mage build comes from a single book.

[Metastachydium]

"Check out the gish build I've been working on for the new campaign!"
"This is a single-class monk."
"That's right! Punch punch!"
"You think monk is a gish class?"
"Uh, yeah. They're melee fighters who also have some magic, in this case ki strike, wholeness of body, and abundant step. Plus, look, she's a sea elf!"
"What does being a sea elf have to do with it?"
"There's plenty of gish in the sea. "
"..."

The position that a class with spells maneuvers that have nine levels and come in a variety of schools disciplines, many of which have explicitly supernatural effects, is a lot like a spellcaster is not nearly as absurd as is being implied.

(This, in a nutshell. (Thank you, RandomPeasant!)

Also, I don't think I've ever seen anyone argue that duskblade isn't a gish. But how's a duskblade with, say, Shocking Grasp, Dimension Hop, Magic Weapon and Swift Invisibility more of a magic user than a swordsage with Burning Blade, Shadow Jaunt, Mountain Hammer and Cloak of Deception if, indeed, the mechanics of using these effects are kind of analogous?)

I suppose you could try soulborn

But do you want to?

because you will not want to do it long term

True fact!

If you want to go for weird you could go for a half-gold dragon treant (no class levels). The immunity to fire should counter the vulnerability to fire, plus you get a ton of plant based immunities. The half-dragon template boosts your plant hit dice and skill points. And since it is core it still leaves you room to add one more book for feats or skill tricks or magic items that are not core. And hey a flying tree!

THIS! So this! (I love it. You can do something like that with a shambler too, which comes with an elemental immunity, no fire problems and elctricity freakin' healing by default!)

[Particle_Man]

Another option (which unfortunately might be a lot to keep track of for a one shot) is Complete Scoundrel for Rogue 9/Battle Trickster 3/Uncanny Trickster 3 and take as many skill tricks as possible (13, I think, with a few that could repeat in an encounter)? Not optimal but perhaps interesting, depending on how your dm rolls.

If you want to squeeze in magical trickster too (and hence a few more tricks) I suppose you could go rogue 1/druid 5 and then the three 3-level trickster classes. You would get wild shape too!

On the other hand, sword sage 10/master of nine 5 would also get you a fighter type that always seems to have a trick up their sleeve.

[Wonton64]

I'm currently between a ToB build, or just grabbing one of those absolutely dumb 1/2 caster prestige classes.

[pabelfly]

I'm currently between a ToB build, or just grabbing one of those absolutely dumb 1/2 caster prestige classes.

Who needs caster levels when you can have minor bonuses to fluff abilities?

[AnonJr]

That's kind of what I was looking for. Something fun and flavorful that maybe wouldn't be great for an actual campaign. Also, yeah, it's Core, not just the PHB.

In that case, I had some fun playing a Gargoyle Cleric in a one-shot - he was "part of the church".

Also had some fun with a Gestalt character in a one-shot. In that case though, we were all playing gestalt characters so we ended up roughly even. I'm not sure they quite hit "LA +2" territory, maybe LA +1.5(ish). See if you can do it without the LA issues by taking a couple less points on the point-buy (or similar penalty).

[liquidformat]

I'm currently between a ToB build, or just grabbing one of those absolutely dumb 1/2 caster prestige classes.

I mean doing something like Paladin into Divine Crusader is always fun and Complete Divine has a decent number of PRCs you can hop into to get a good mix of domains

[Particle_Man]

I'm currently between a ToB build, or just grabbing one of those absolutely dumb 1/2 caster prestige classes.

If you went crusader 4/cleric 1/Ruby knight vindicator 10 you could sort of do both - a flavourful prestige class, keeping the caster level at only 9th, and focusing instead on the initiator side of the fence.

[Quertus]

Also...gestalt? What I've read on this forum ballparks gestalt at about +2 LA. See if you can make use of that, as well as LA-buyoff.

I'm wondering how I missed that. One more reason to pick UA.

Did they happen to estimate a LA on tri-stalt when they estimated gestalt at +2 LA?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I'm wondering how I missed that. One more reason to pick UA.

Did they happen to estimate a LA on tri-stalt when they estimated gestalt at +2 LA?

Not that I can recall, although if I were being snarky, I'd say +3, with quadristalt being +4, etc.

[RandomPeasant]

Trying to assign a level adjustment to Gestalt is like trying to assign a level adjustment for "getting to take a PrC". Are you taking Rainbow Servant as a Warmage, or Forsaker as a Wizard? Are you a Wizard//Psion or a Fighter//Warmage?

[Soranar]

How about a chameleon?

you get access to all spells arcane or divine up to level 6 with a caster level 20

Something like

Rogue 5 (for the skillpoints and sneak attack)
Chameleon 10
And then finish with more rogue levels

It's not as powerful as a regular chameleon (since the spells are more limited) but make sure to check the duskblade's spell list (PHB II counts as PHB I assume).

You should still be ridiculously versatile and you can do whatever you like

fight in melee? divine power
pew pew? duskblade disintegrate + sneak attack damage
summon a meatshield? giant vermin (colossal size with caster level 20) or animate object

you also have a ton of spellslots since you have arcane and divine spells (the other focuses are never as strong as this)

If you prefer getting more spellslots you can also use dragon disciple to do that but you'll need to dip bard or sorcerer to do so.

In that case I'd probably recommend

1 Sorcerer
2-3 Paladin (for the extra saves)
4-5 Fighter (for the bonus feats)

[Particle_Man]

Check with the dm as PHB II May count as the +1 rather than as part of core.