Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground CXXIX

[The Viscount]

I have pretty interesting idea, but it's 0% done.

Also a very good quote for the Iron Chef experience.

[H_H_F_F]

Very hyped for the reveal that's definitely happening in 3 days and will not be postponed.

[loky1109]

Very hyped for the reveal that's definitely happening in 3 days and will not be postponed.

It's funny. )))

[The Viscount]

Very hyped for the reveal that's definitely happening in 3 days and will not be postponed.

Just for that, reveal is now on Christmas. Seeya later.

[Paragon]

Wouldn't shock me at all

[FactualArcher]

I'm not going to get in an entry, so I'm going to officially sign up as a judge. I can hopefully work fairly quickly. I should have my rubric up this weekend and hopefully will get started on judging soon after the entries come out.

[H_H_F_F]

Thanks, FactualArcher!

[The Viscount]

Thank you for your generosity. The competition lives on our judges.

[FactualArcher]

Here is my judging rubric:

Judging notes: This rubric is heavily based off of the rubric I used last VC round as that didn’t seem to cause many problems. I’m going to be a little more flexible with the questions, meaning if you blow me away in one, you can score more than the +1, and, if you do extremely poorly in one question, you could lose more than 1 point. I don’t expect this to happen much, but if you do something really cool/crazy I want to be able to fully reward it.

Spoiler: Originality

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• Starts at 3 by default, will be adjusted up/down from there
• How expected is your race and any templates, if used?
• How expected are your non SI classes?
• How expected are your non prereq feats, spells, and skills?
• Do you have a unique and interesting trick/tactic?

Spoiler: Power

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• Can you adequately fulfill whatever role you choose at most levels in a mid-op party?
• Can you do your main tricks throughout the length of a typical adventuring day?
• Can you help at all outside of combat, by healing, tracking, divining or what have you?
• Do you have the defenses expected of your role, or are you more or less vulnerable than would be expected?

Spoiler: Elegance

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• Starts at 5, questions are up to -1 each, automatic 1 if most of the entry is illegal.
• Is everything legal?
• Does anything rely on ambiguous wording?
• Does your build keep a relatively low number of classes and templates? I’m generally fairly lenient on this, but more than 1 single level dip or more than 5 classes/templates will likely cause penalties.
• Is your build extremely item reliant, or can you run on a normal distribution and kinds of magic items?
• Is your entry neat and all sources are listed?

Spoiler: Use of the Secret Ingredient

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• Does Demonologist give you interesting abilities you couldn't get without it?
• Do you have any interesting tricks based on Demonologist's class abilities?
• Are most class abilities used with reasonable frequency by your character?
• Do you qualify legally and in a timely fashion?

[H_H_F_F]

Here is my judging rubric:

Judging notes: This rubric is heavily based off of the rubric I used last VC round as that didn’t seem to cause many problems. I’m going to be a little more flexible with the questions, meaning if you blow me away in one, you can score more than the +1, and, if you do extremely poorly in one question, you could lose more than 1 point. I don’t expect this to happen much, but if you do something really cool/crazy I want to be able to fully reward it.

Spoiler: Originality

Show

• Starts at 3 by default, will be adjusted up/down from there
• How expected is your race and any templates, if used?
• How expected are your non SI classes?
• How expected are your non prereq feats, spells, and skills?
• Do you have a unique and interesting trick/tactic?

Spoiler: Power

Show

• Can you adequately fulfill whatever role you choose at most levels in a mid-op party?
• Can you do your main tricks throughout the length of a typical adventuring day?
• Can you help at all outside of combat, by healing, tracking, divining or what have you?
• Do you have the defenses expected of your role, or are you more or less vulnerable than would be expected?

Spoiler: Elegance

Show

• Starts at 5, questions are up to -1 each, automatic 1 if most of the entry is illegal.
• Is everything legal?
• Does anything rely on ambiguous wording?
• Does your build keep a relatively low number of classes and templates? I’m generally fairly lenient on this, but more than 1 single level dip or more than 5 classes/templates will likely cause penalties.
• Is your build extremely item reliant, or can you run on a normal distribution and kinds of magic items?
• Is your entry neat and all sources are listed?

Spoiler: Use of the Secret Ingredient

Show

• Does Demonologist give you interesting abilities you couldn't get without it?
• Do you have any interesting tricks based on Demonologist's class abilities?
• Are most class abilities used with reasonable frequency by your character?
• Do you qualify legally and in a timely fashion?

I've got a feeling I'm not going to do very well

Everything seems clear and fair!

[loky1109]

It's funny. )))

Joking aside, I hope finish my entry within next 19 hours (it's within deadline, isn't it?), but maybe I'll need one-two-three hours extension.

UPD: It looks I done.

[Paragon]

Will we have a reveal on the first deadline 😱

[H_H_F_F]

Will we have a reveal on the first deadline 😱

Usually when it seems like that, it turns out someone DMd the Viscount asking for an extension.

Never give up hope, though.

[The Viscount]

Usually when it seems like that, it turns out someone DMd the Viscount asking for an extension.

Work took longer than I expected.

Reveal begins now! (Please hold off on posting until the all clear)

[The Viscount]

Maybe it's not better to light a candle after all

Darcy Covenant



CE Ice Gnome Bard 5 / Wild Soul 2 / Bard +1 / Demonologist 4 / Sublime Chord 2 / Candle Caster 1 / Demonologist +5

Spoiler: Rumor

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Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths,
Or from our master's?

At the edge of the tundra stands a little hut.

To approach or even notice it is no simple feat, for howling blizzards surround it in winter, and dense mounds of fog gather round it come spring. Wandering through the haze, you may see shadowy shapes, suggesting some stumbling soul - such sights should seldom be trusted. The dead walk 'round that hut, stripped of fat and muscle, carried forth by hate alone. And not mere human dead - some have seen the walking bones of boars, great wolves, even the horned remnants of fiends.

Should you reach the hut, the door is answered by a thin young girl, hair long and greasy, clothes so stained with blood and grime that their color cannot be told. She is the lowest of the low, a firstborn sold in exchange for some profane favor, nameless but for her brand of ownership. Nevertheless, you should treat her with the greatest of respect, as if you were speaking to a mighty king, and ask thrice before entering.

Once you do so, you will find the hut stocked with all manner of things - books, vials of bubbling liquid, large kettles of soup, tapestries, rarity-filled cupboards. Most of all there are candles everywhere, filling each corner of the hut with light. There will be a great grey wolf lying in a corner, and a black bat sleeping in the eaves - these too you should treat like honored lords. Introduce yourself to them before taking the offered seat.

The girl will bring you many things then, but you must reject them all, even the merest cup of soup, and only ask to see the kindly ones. She will ask you why, and you must claim you wish to offer them your gifts (you did bring gifts, right?). At this, she will disappear down a trapdoor, and remain away for a while, though you should not assume you are now alone.

Then the girl will return, and kneel besides the trapdoor - in this, you should follow her example - and at last will your hosts show themselves.

First is Grandmother Drab, eight feet tall and wrinkled as a prune, wearing naught but bracelets made out of her own long-lost teeth. Her left eye never opens, which she evens out by never closing her right. She delights in speaking in a whisper, then shouting without warning and startling all that moved their ears closer - other than this mischief, she will do little harm. Her you should bring offerings of strong liquor.

Second is Auntie Olga, ten feet tall, muscular, turnip-faced, and dressed in the furs of polar bears that died by her calloused hands. She is boisterous, cruel, and easily distracted by passing fancies. A five-foot trunk serves her as a walking stick, though she chiefly uses it to break the fingers of those that displease her. Gifts to her should take the form of ancient tomes and pleasing art.

And third is Little Eimear, who in defiance of her name stands nine feet tall. She will appear in many guises, all of them flame-haired and shockingly beautiful. She enjoys wasting her supplicants' time, posing riddles with no answer and ordering the performance of pointless tasks. Gemstones are the only gift she accepts - although she delights in the taste of human flesh, she trusts none but herself to butcher and prepare it.

The three will spend their time tormenting you, taking breaks to gorge themselves on the contents of the pots or light new candles, and at last demand you state your reason for coming. It is here you may, at last, make your request of them. Perhaps you wish a curse upon your enemies, a glimpse of the future, a scrap of ancient lore. Perhaps you wish to sell your soul, and seek for them to mediate, for they know the names of many demons. Whatever your desire, act on it, then swiftly leave. Accept no offers to remain for the night, even if this forces you to camp out in the wilds.

To close, permit me to share one final warning. Should any of the three ever ask you which of the hut's witches is most powerful, apologize profusely, proclaim your foolishness, refuse to pick no matter how much they insist. Eventually, they will relent, mock your cowardice, and move on - this, I know, is the only means of survival, for none who have returned from the hut have reported doing anything else.

And yet - despite all appearances, I cannot help but wonder. While all evidence suggests that every answer is wrong, and that choosing one witch simply invites the wrath of the two others, I would find such a trick unbecoming of them - their other games are cruel, prideful, and blasphemous, but never misleading, and one who is polite beyond a fault and rather tolerant of pain should otherwise never fear for his life.

So might their deadly question, however impossibly, have an answer after all?

Spoiler: Ability Scores

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Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw...

Point buy: 10/12/12/14/14/16
Racial: 8/12/14/14/14/16
ASIs: +1 wisdom (4 HD), +4 charisma (8,12,16,20 HD)
Final: 8/12/14/14/15/20

Spoiler: Table

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Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Gnome Fey Bard 1	+0	+0	+2	+2	32: Bluff +2 (2), Concentration +4 (4), Craft (Candlemaking) +2 (2), Hide +4 (4), Knowledge (Arcana) +4 (4), Knowledge (Nature) +2 (2), Knowledge (Planes) +2 (2), Listen +4 (4), Perform (Sing) +4 (4), Profession (Astrologer) +2 (2), Spellcraft +2 (2)	Evil Brand	Animal Companion, Bardic Music, Counter Fear, Fascinate, Gnome Cantrips, Nature Sense, Wild Empathy
2nd	Bard 2	+1	+0	+3	+3	8: Bluff +1 (3), Concentration 4, Craft (Candlemaking) +1 (3), Hide +1 (5), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (5), Knowledge (Nature) +1 (3), Knowledge (Planes) 2, Listen +1 (5), Perform (Sing) +1 (5), Profession (Astrologer) 2, Spellcraft +1 (3)	-	-
3rd	Bard 3	+2	+1	+3	+3	8: Bluff +1 (4), Concentration +1 (5), Craft (Candlemaking) 3, Hide +1 (6), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (6), Knowledge (Nature) +1 (4), Knowledge (Planes) 2, Listen +1 (6), Perform (Sing) +1 (6), Profession (Astrologer) +1 (3), Spellcraft 3	Malign Spell Focus	-
4th	Bard 4	+3	+1	+4	+4	8: Bluff 4, Concentration 5, Craft (Candlemaking) +1 (4), Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (7), Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) +2 (4), Listen +1 (7), Perform (Sing) +1 (7), Profession (Astrologer) +1 (4), Spellcraft +1 (4)	-	Resist Nature's Lure
5th	Bard 5	+3	+1	+4	+4	8: Bluff +1 (5), Concentration 5, Craft (Candlemaking) +2 (6), Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (8), Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 4, Listen +1 (8), Perform (Sing) +1 (8), Profession (Astrologer) +2 (6), Spellcraft 4	-	-
6th	Wild Soul 1	+3	+1	+4	+6	4: Bluff 5, Concentration +1 (6), Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 8, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) +2 (6), Listen 8, Perform (Sing) 8, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Spellcraft +1 (5)	Sacrificial Mastery	Seelie courtier (Unseelie), spontaneous spells (1st—3rd)
7th	Wild Soul 2	+4	+1	+4	+7	4: Bluff 5, Concentration +1 (7), Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 8, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) +2 (8), Listen 8, Perform (Sing) 8, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Spellcraft +1 (6)	-	Seelie Bond (immune to sleep), Summon Seelie Ally
8th	Bard 6	+5	+2	+5	+8	8: Bluff +2 (7), Concentration 7, Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 8, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Listen +3 (11), Perform (Sing) +3 (11), Profession (Astrologer) 6, Spellcraft 6	-	Suggestion
9th	Demonologist 1	+5	+2	+5	+10	6: Bluff 7, Concentration +2 (9), Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (9), Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Listen +1cc (11.5), Perform (Sing) 11, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive +2 (2), Spellcraft 6	Versatile Spellcaster	Charm Demon
10th	Demonologist 2	+6	+2	+5	+11	6: Bluff +1 (8), Concentration +2 (11), Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (10), Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Listen +1cc (12), Perform (Sing) 11, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive +1 (3), Spellcraft 6	-	Quasit Familiar
11th	Demonologist 3	+6	+3	+6	+11	6: Bluff +1 (9), Concentration +2 (13), Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (11), Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Listen +1cc (12.5), Perform (Sing) 11, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive +1 (4), Spellcraft 6	-	Summoning Mastery +2
12th	Demonologist 4	+7	+3	+6	+12	6: Bluff 9, Concentration +2 (15), Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) +2 (13), Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Listen +1cc (13), Perform (Sing) 11, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive +1 (5), Spellcraft 6	Great Fortitude	Resistances
13th	Sublime Chord 1	+7	+3	+6	+14	6: Bluff 9, Concentration 15, Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Knowledge (Religion) +4 (4), Listen 13, Perform (Sing) +2 (13), Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 6	-	Bardic Music
14th	Sublime Chord 2	+8	+3	+6	+15	6: Bluff 9, Concentration 15, Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Knowledge (Religion) +5 (9), Listen 13, Perform (Sing) +1 (14), Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 6	-	Song of Arcane Power
15th	Candle Caster 1	+8	+3	+6	+17	4: Bluff 9, Concentration +2 (17), Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 9, Listen 13, Perform (Sing) 14, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft +2 (8)	Fade Into Violence	Scribe Candle
16th	Demonologist 5	+8	+3	+6	+17	6: Bluff +1 (10), Concentration 17, Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Intimidate +2 (2), Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Knowledge (Religion) +3 (12), Listen 13, Perform (Sing) 14, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive 7, Spellcraft 8	-	Poison Immunity
17th	Demonologist 6	+9	+4	+7	+18	6: Bluff +1 (11), Concentration 17, Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Intimidate +4 (6) Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 12, Listen 13, Perform (Sing) 14, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive +1 (8), Spellcraft 8	-	Summoning Mastery +3
18th	Demonologist 7	+9	+4	+7	+18	6: Bluff +1 (12), Concentration 17, Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Intimidate +2 (8), Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 12, Listen 13, Perform (Sing) 14, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive +3 (11), Spellcraft 8	Craft Wondrous Item	Hold Demon
19th	Demonologist 8	+10	+4	+7	+19	6: Bluff +3 (15), Concentration 17, Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 12, Listen 13, Perform (Sing) 14, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive +3 (14), Spellcraft 8	-	Telepathy
20th	Demonologist 9	+10	+5	+8	+19	6: Bluff +2 (17), Concentration 17, Craft (Candlemaking) 6, Hide 6, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Knowledge (Planes) 8, Knowledge (Religion) +1 (13), Listen 13, Perform (Sing) 14, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive +3 (17), Spellcraft 8	-	Summoning Master +4

Languages: Common, Gnome, Draconic, Giant

Spoiler: Spells

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She knows thy thought:
Hear her speech, but say thou nought.

Spells known are listed in order learned.

Bard Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd
1st	2	-	-	-
2nd	3	1	-	-
3rd	3	2	-	-
4th	3	3	1	-
5th	3	4	2	-
7th	3	4	3	-
8th	3	4	3	1
20th	3	5	3	1

Bard spells known:
0: Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Prestidigitation, Light, Summon Instrument
1: Charm Person, Hypnotism, Improvisation, Extract Drug
2: Dimension Leap, Glitterdust, Bridge of Sound, Mask of the Ideal
3: Curse of the Putrid Husk, Summon Monster III

Demonologist Spells per Day

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
9th	2	-	-	-
10th	2	2	-	-
11th	3	2	2	-
12th	3	3	2	2
16th	4	3	3	2
17th	4	4	3	3
18th	4	4	4	3
19th	5	4	4	4
20th	6	5	5	4

Sublime Chord Spells per Day:

Level	4th	5th	6th
13th	3	1	-
14th	3	2	-
15th	4	2	1
20th	4	3	1

Sublime Chord spells known:
4: Liquid Pain, Modify Memory, Voice of the Dragon, Celerity
5: Summon Monster V, Fiendform
6: Halaster's Fetch III

Wild Soul substitution list:
1: Lesser Confusion
2: Detect Thoughts
3: Poison

Final CL is 9 for demonologist and 10 for bard and sublime chord.

Spoiler: Companions

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Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog...

Wolf:
The wolf is a 6th-level animal companion, giving it +4 HD, +4 natural armor, +2 strength and dexterity, Link, Share Spells, and Evasion. For its 4 extra skill ranks, it invests in spot.

The HD entitles it to two feats. Fey Heritage and Fey Presence are decently flavorful and quite strong, though if that gets too silly to your liking, you can always be boring and give it something like Open-Minded (for a total of 5 ranks in listen and the rest in spot) and Quick Reconnaitor.

Quasit:
This quasit's alternate form option are bat and wolf.

The quasit is a 9th-level familiar, giving it +5 natural armor, improved evasion, share spells, empathetic link, and the ability to deliver touch spells. It can also speak with us in a non-language (cool until we get telepathy) and speak with other animals of its kind (possibly letting it talk to bats or wolves? If so, it'll serve as an intermediary between us and our other companion.

Spoiler: Writeups

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Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten
Her nine farrow; grease that's sweaten
From the murderer's gibbet throw
Into the flame.

ECL 5
We trade Inspire Courage (lackluster at low levels) for a wolf companion (outperforms the fighter at low levels), and we grab the gnome substitution level to let the party (including anything we summon) reroll saves against fear. It also gives us a free cantrip, and being an ice gnome lets us talk to our wolf (an arctic animal per frostburn) 1/day. Anyway, between good social skills, great Listen, Wild Empathy, and all sorts of knowledges, I think we're a pretty well-rounded character!

Spells-wise: Charm Person + Hypnotism is a busted combo early-game, Grease is great as always, Glitterdust is a huge debuff, Dimension Leap gets you out of dangerous grapples, and Bridge of Sound is a fun little mini-Wall of Force.

ECL 10
We're a fey bard, so we might as well head through Wild Soul and grab some extra spells (Lesser Confusion, Detect Thoughts, and Poison, eventually Endless Slumber and Mass Suggestion also) that all our spellcasting progressions can make use of. Our final bard level gives us Suggestion, allowing for six attempts per day at manipulating someone with no obvious casting going on. Curse of the Putrid Husk gets a save boost from us being a gnome and Malign Spell Focus, making it a ranged save-or-die roughly on par with what other casters have by now.

Versatile Spellcaster is worth pointing out for how it interacts with demonologist. As written, the feat lets us sacrifice two spell slots (from any class) to cast a spell we know one level higher (from any class). This allows us to use our bard slots to cast undercosted demonologist spells, or channel demonologist slots into the utility-focused bard list when the situation calls for it. This means that though we don't have too many spell slots, we enjoy a lot of flexibility in how we use them.

Anyway, we're in demonologist, we have a quasit, so enjoy 1/week Commune and an invisible bat-shaped scout that inherits your hide ranks.

ECL 15
Our levels in Sublime Chord help in several ways. Song of Arcane Power can boost any of our three casting classes in exchange for one of our seven bardic music attempts (which we have few better outlets for). We also get Voice of the Dragon and Modify Memory for some rather capable social interaction. More important are the level 5 spells we get: Summon Monster V is currently getting us CE monsters from the 7th-level list (arrow demons, fiendish girallons, fiendish giant octopi, plus annis hags and will-o-wisps thanks to wild soul).

Fiendform lets us turn into 'any fiendish creature, demon, or devil that can be summoned by a summon monster I, II, III, or IV spell'. Straightforwardly, we can summon a fiendish elasmosaurus, huge monstrous spider, or giant constrictor snake with those spells - can we turn into those? I see no reason why not. And while we're doing that, we might as well share the spell with our familiar and animal companion, putting three huge bodies on the field with a single standard action.

Speaking of huge bodies, Fade into Violence lets us redirect any foe that's coming a bit too close for comfort, sending him off to fight one of our summoned bodies or, at worst, our animal companion. Its benefit is lost if you attack any opponent or target one with a spell, but Summon Monster spam should be just fine - and thankfully Demonologist wants us to use that spell above all others! The feat similarly helps us get those Summon Monsters off in the first place, because people can't simply run up to you and hit you while you're casting (time it right, and the distracted foe might actually physically block anyone else who wants to get to you).

Candle Caster might seem a bit random, but Sublime Chord 3 is essentially a dead level and out of all the PrCs with first-level casting advancement, this one adds a meaningful (and flavorful!) dimension to our character. Consider that demonologist has an incredibly underleveled spell list, and you can make scrolls of Bestow Greater Curse for 200 GP (4 x 4 x 25 / 2) instead of the 1600 (8 x 16 x 25 / 2) that a sorcerer would pay. Note how your low CL is an advantage here! We'll also spin a little trick around it that'll become clear later. The prerequisite feat is almost something we'd want to take anyway, given how bad our Fortitude would be otherwise.

Lastly, consider Halaster's Fetch III. It functions 'as summon monster III' (including the expanded list) except it's (calling) instead of (summoning) and the summoned creature remains after the spell ends (though it becomes free-willed). For now, it's getting us large vipers to milk for free poison, small elementals to use as scouts, or dretches to put to work as free labor (all with some gentle prodding, which we have plenty of bard spells and charisma for - Demonologist's Charm Demon works great with Hypnosis). More importantly, this spell can fetch us sacrifices. Even if fiendish animals don't count for the baleful powers, something like a redcap is a living intelligent ensouled native of the material plane - there's got to be a dark god out there willing to take them. If we get our hands on a thinaun weapon, this also gives us a nice steady supply of souls to launder into dretches, nightmares, or bargaining chips.

(Note that per the rules for summoning, 'When the spell that summoned a creature ends and the creature disappears, all the spells it has cast expire. A summoned creature cannot use any innate summoning abilities it may have, and it refuses to cast any spells that would cost it XP, or to use any spell-like abilities that would cost XP if they were spells'. This keeps us from the coolest bits of summoning demons, so getting to subvert the rules is really nice)

But redcaps are good for more than that! By feeding one other called creatures, we can grow them all the way up to 20 HD, CR 12, 30 strength threats. Make sure to frequently use Hypnotism on them while they're still young and pliable, and you can grow yourself a small army of loyal servants. The diplomacy check to turn them friendly before Hypnotism-indoctrination gets a +2 boost from Wild Soul, +2 from Evil Brand, +5 from our charisma, +4 from synergy bonuses, and possibly +5 from Improvisation, +4 from Mask of the Ideal, and +10 from voice of the dragon, so even without ranks we're looking at... +32, which turns hostile creatures friendly 90% of the time (and 'listen to me for a minute' is a fine command to give summoned fodder). A masterwork tool covers the last bit of that gap, as does a mere +4 charisma item.

Other fun ways to ensure loyal servants: get them hooked on drugs! Extract Drug is a 1st-level spell and gives you access to stuff with a High addiction rating, while liquid pain (easily fueled by, you guessed it, called creatures) is a 4th-level cast that gives you a drug with an addiction rating of Extreme (though the fact that it takes 24 hours to produce one dose basically forces you to expose its victims to withdrawal). Lastly, even mundane intimidation will often be enough against the low-HD summoned creatures, especially if you only need them for a single task.

Note that Magic Circle Against Evil works on any 'nongood called creature', not just those conjured by Planar Binding and its ilk. That means we can call a creature into the magic circle, briefly have it act under our control but without the restrictions that summoning places on summoning/teleportation/XP-cost abilities/duration, and then leave it imprisoned at our mercy (longterm, it either goes off to the sacrifice altar annex butcher's shop, it gets tortured for liquid pain, or you turn it into a minion). Bestow Curse can be applied to cripple your prisoners, or you can just physically maim them. Calling spells are great, but why would you stoop to the level of fair deals? What are we, Lawful Evil?

Before I forget, note that all those sacrifices can earn you dark craft GP and XP, and liquid pain can be used as an XP substitute also, so those candle caster scrolls become virtually free if you can spare a sacrifice every now and then.

ECL 20
All the previous tricks get better as we get bigger and stronger summons. Halaster's Fetch III is now grabbing us things from the 7th-level summon monster list, and it's worth noting that there's no Halaster's Fetch VII. Grab three Annis Hags (not callable otherwise), have them form a coven, and enjoy access to 3/day Mind Blank, Control Weather, Mirage Arcana, Veil, Dream, even Vision.

Or go slightly smaller and summon an Artaaglith (Ghostwalk) using the 6th-level list. In the first few rounds after appearing, it can Desecrate an area and raise you an undead of up to 20 HD (fiendish monstrous spiders or girallons are great targets, or windscythes for flying brutes) and give it some brief verbal command. Keeping the Artaaglith out of earshot will keep the skeleton working on whatever repetitive task you need it for - if you want to be really thorough you can even bury the demon alive while it's still under your control. Those artaagliths you don't immure will be able to prepare any cleric spell of 3rd or lower level, massively expanding your operation's versatility.

Or grab a Babau, finally free to use its at-will Greater Teleport. Here is why we went candle caster instead of just getting Scribe Scroll - the former comes with a built-in delay. We can light a candle as a standard action, hand it to our babau, send it away, and at the start of our next turn unleash any spell we know at any location in the world. Bestow Greater Curse is probably the most potent attack to unleash that way, though given that a candle spell 'works exactly like a spell prepared and cast the normal way' we can probably access our up-list Summon Monsters this way too - a Wastrilith is a lot less scary to summon when it appears on the other side of the world and has no idea where you are. And long-range Detect Thoughts is just great intel gathering.

Summon Monster V now uses the list of IX, giving you access to bebiliths (great grappler, immobilizing web) and adarus (buff all your evil servants nearby while debuffing nonevil ones).

We get poison immunity and energy resistance to help compensate for our meager Fortitude and Reflex. Poison Immunity is also helpful while harvesting the venom of called creatures and applying it to our allies' weapons (a mere summoner couldn't really make this work). Telepathy lets us communicate with all we summon more easily, while also downplaying our role as the mastermind behind all these fiends.

Fiendform is up to Babaus and Vrocks, so we now have access to a flying form with five natural attacks, a stunning screech, and at-will Telekinesis, Mirror Image, and Greater Teleport. If the situation calls for AoE damage, you can even join up with your familiar and wolf and use Dance of Ruin that way, though I don't see this coming up much.

Our Knowledge (Religion) boosted by Improvisation and Demoncall is now up to 13+2+5+10+4= +34, so we can safely make a check to obtain 105 dark XP per sacrifice. With two batches of 1d4+1 redcaps, that's an average of 735 XP generated per day. After a few days of killing, you should have enough to construct a Pain Extractor, letting you move your high-value minions up to properly addictive drugs and giving you a potent bargaining chip when dealing with evil outsiders. You'll still have to provide the GP yourself, but agony goes for 200 GP a pop, so the machine should cover its own costs within half a year or so.

(all this industrialized evil might cause possessing fiends to arise in the area, per BoVD page 36, but Demonologist gives us two spells to swiftly deal with them, at which point they can be communicated with telepathically and pressed into service as yet another resource)

Around this time, your base has effectively become fully self-sufficient, so to reduce flight risk you might as well seal it off completely from the outside world. Your cleric demons can take care of food and water needs, ventillation can be partially covered by air vents (if necessary with fan-waving skeletons placed throughout) and partially by Ease of Breath spells, with Fiendform as a panic button if you really need to stop breathing for the next few minutes. Having one cleric walk around with plentiful Create Water spells and a Water Breathing is another good safeguard. Gold is obtained via liquid pain generation and putting skeletons to work on mining tasks (or perhaps assembly lines), XP comes from sacrifices.

Poison and elemental immunity put themselves to use in a surprising way here: they protect you from attempts to root you out by simply pouring boiling oil / burning tar / lava / poison gas down the few remaining ventillation shafts. Sure, the hags and redcaps will probably die, as will any uncontrolled undead you can't quickly drag into an airless panic room, but those are acceptable losses - you can always summon more.

And really, what could be more demonologist than that?

Spoiler: Discussion

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How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!
What is't you do?

Demonologist allows us to get a ton more power out of Fiendform and Halaster's Fetch. The things we do with the former, a full caster can only replicate with Shapechange (notoriously one of the most busted spells in the game), while the latter requires Gate's XP-draining mode.

We get an array of utility comparable, or even superior to, that of a sorcerer. We resolve the tension between Charm/Hold Demon and Summoning Mastery by interacting with demons in a way that benefits from both class features. We use the sacrifice rules to get free crafting XP, and then pivot to a strategy that uses crafted items uniquely well. We squeeze extra use out of our familiar by giving it access to the shapes of powerful fiends, and we use Telepathy better than most by using it to conceal our presence - any fiend or beast in the room could be us, concealed, broadcasting instructions to all our minions. The squishiness of demonologist is mitigated by our ability to deal with danger at a distance and redirect attacks - what avenues of assault remain, we are immune or resistant to.

Moreover, we're capital E-Evil, we gain our power by summoning and binding fiends, we torture, we sacrifice, we control our servants through addiction - it's hard to imagine a more perfect exemplar of the wickedness that the BoVD encourages. We're not just a mage with a minor in demonology - everything we do is demons (except when it's fey, but that still works fine within our witch theme).

Lastly, note that unlike either wizards or sublime chords, we have access to quite some social skills. Intimidate is very rare on full caster lists - getting it together with bluff and sense motive is almost unseen. We use all these skills to great effect and have the spells to boost them further.

We do not take Dominate Demon, but we use it in spirit: completely enslaving evil beings to our will is entirely within our capabilities. We can't shortcut the process quite as well, but when you're completely self-sustaining, you have all the time in the world.

Spoiler: Sources

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Tell me, thou unknown power...

Ice Gnome - Frost
Wild Soul - CMage
Sublime Chord - CArc
Candle Caster - TaB

Gnome Bard - RoS
Fey Bard - UA

Sacrificial Mastery - BoVD
Malign Spell Focus - CoR
Evil Brand - ElE
Versatile Spellcaster - RotD
Fade Into Violence - PHBII

Halaster's Fetch is from City of Splendours: Waterdeep

All quotes from Shakespeare's Macbeth.

[The Viscount]

Ah, so that's what it means to get froggy.

The Great Horned Toad



CE Neraph Binder 2 / Wizard 3 / Dread Witch 4 / Demonologist 10 / Geometer 1

Edible, adj.: Good to eat, and wholesome to digest, as a toad to a snake, a snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a toad.

Spoiler: Meat Is Meat

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Spoiler: Meat Is You

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Here's a fun fact: every part of you is food to something.

Cut off your finger, your ear, your tongue, offer it up to the right being, and watch it be devoured within seconds. Repeat the process until your limbs end in digitless stumps and your face is a bloody ruin, then ask a friend for help with the next bit.

Remove strips of skin and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Pluck out all hair and dissolve it in ooze. Peel away muscle and sinew. Cut loose your bones and break them in half - be sure to catch the marrow before it drains away. The organs should come loose easy enough by this point. Everything that remains can be ground into a paste and left out for the flies.

And there you go! Each part of your body is gone, just like that, disseminated into maggots and worms and wolves. They certainly didn't care about it like you did - they won't even remember the meal in three days' time. And yet everything that makes you you has disappeared into their mouths.

This was a terrifying thought to the first humans. It could not be denied: they were food. They would die, if not today than tomorrow, and if they died they would be eaten. They cowered in their caves, scurrying out to gather scraps of food, knowing that if they were to die, their starving fellows would treat their corpse as meat all the same.

Until one very clever human had an idea. What if, this human suggested, something endured past the death of the body? What if there was an afterlife, a place of rest and reward? What if the body and its death did not really matter?

As it happened, this was even right (or became right, perhaps?). Humans have souls, which simply move on when their body fails. Souls, transcendent, ethereal, which no thing of this world can consume.

...

How unfortunate, then, that there are other worlds.

Spoiler: Backstory

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Who knows what the Toad once was? The Toad itself certainly doesn't anymore, consumed by hunger and madness as it is. Presumably it was a Neraph like any other, which delved into lore too dark to be compatible with sanity, and was in time exiled.

Eventually, the Toad must have found its way to the Abyss, where it chanced upon Laogzed, the amphibian glutton that inhabits the 181st layer of that vile plane. Some glimmer of recognition sparked in its shattered mind, and the Toad declared its undying servitude to this dark master on the spot.

Ever since, the Toad stalks the planes, slaying mortals wantonly and devouring them in macabre (and wholly unnecessary, given its outsider nature) feasts. It deals with demons liberally, viewing them as 'mouths' for its devourer god, and often invites them to partake in its feasts. Even the bravest of paladins find their resolve shaken when confronted with the grim possibility of being butchered and served to the worst of fiends.

Over time, it form warped to resemble the Abyss's loathsome hezrous more than Limbo's slaadi. Its skin shed, then grew back thick and spiked. It developed resistance to the elements, its organs rearranged themselves, and no poison would harm it anymore. Even the stench of death that surrounds hezrous came to linger upon the Toad - one of Laogzed's rare gifts.

But perhaps the strangest thing about the fiend is this. It charges into battle heedless of danger, seeing even the most fearsome dragon as just another morsel to subdue. And yet, when admonished by the quasit that follows it, it cringes and cowers, gibbering in fear, as if it were facing down the hosts of heaven themselves.

Is its mind simply no longer capable of assessing danger properly? Does it recognize part of itself in the fiendish servant, and recoil at realizing what it has become? Or is it merely the groveling of a sycophant, acutely aware that should it cease providing meals, Laogzed would just as happily devour the Toad?

Spoiler: Build

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Ability scores:
8 STR
12 DEX
14 CON
14 INT
14 WIS
16 CHA
ASI at 4 in WIS, all others in CHA.

Languages: Neraph, Slaad, Abyssal, Common

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Binder 1	+0	+2	+0	+2	Concentration +4 (4), Knowledge (Arcana) +4 (4), Knowledge (Religion) +4 (4), Knowledge (The Planes) +4 (4)	Evil Brand	Soul Binding
2nd	Binder 2	+1	+3	+0	+3	Concentration +1 (5), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (5), Knowledge (Religion) +1 (5), Knowledge (The Planes) +1 (5)	-	Pact Augmentation, Suppress Sign
3rd	Wizard 1	+1	+3	+0	+5	Concentration +1 (6), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (6), Knowledge (Religion) +1 (6), Knowledge (The Planes) +1 (6)	Malign Spell Focus	Scribe Scroll, School Specialization (Conjuration), Banned Schools (Evocation, Transmutation), Rapid Summoning
4th	Wizard 2	+2	+3	+0	+6	Concentration +1 (7), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (7), Knowledge (Religion) +1 (7), Knowledge (The Planes) +1 (7)	-	-
5th	Wizard 3	+2	+4	+1	+6	Concentration +1 (8), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (8), Knowledge (Religion) +1 (8), Knowledge (The Planes) +1 (8)	-	-
6th	Dread Witch 1	+2	+4	+1	+8	Concentration +1 (9), Intimidate +2 (2), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (9), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8	Sacrificial Mastery	Master of Terror, Unnatural Will
7th	Dread Witch 2	+3	+4	+1	+9	Concentration +1 (10), Intimidate +1 (3), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search +1cc (1)	-	Absorb Fear
8th	Dread Witch 3	+3	+5	+2	+9	Concentration +1 (11), Intimidate +1 (4), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search +1cc (2)	-	Fearful Empowerment
9th	Dread Witch 4	+4	+5	+2	+10	Concentration +1 (12), Intimidate +1 (5), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 2, Spellcraft +2 (2)	Insane Defiance	Delay Fear, Greater Master of Terror
10th	Demonologist 1	+4	+5	+2	+12	Concentration 12, Decipher Script +3 (3), Disable Device +1cc (1), Intimidate 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 2, Spellcraft +1 (3)	-	Charm Demon
11th	Demonologist 2	+5	+5	+2	+13	Concentration 12, Decipher Script +3 (6), Disable Device +1cc (2), Intimidate 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 2, Spellcraft +1 (4)	-	Quasit Familiar
12th	Demonologist 3	+5	+6	+3	+13	Concentration 12, Decipher Script +3 (9), Disable Device +1cc (3), Intimidate +1 (6), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 2, Spellcraft 4	Arcane Disciple (Demonologist) (Death Domain)	Summoning Mastery +2
13th	Demonologist 4	+6	+6	+3	+14	Concentration +2 (14), Decipher Script 9, Disable Device +1cc (4), Intimidate +2 (8), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 2, Spellcraft 4	-	Resistances
14th	Demonologist 5	+6	+6	+3	+14	Concentration +2 (16), Decipher Script 9, Disable Device 4, Intimidate +2 (10), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search +1cc (3), Spellcraft 4	-	Poison Immunity
15th	Demonologist 6	+7	+7	+4	+15	Concentration +2 (18), Decipher Script 9, Disable Device 4, Intimidate +2 (12), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search +1cc (4), Spellcraft 4	Charnel Miasma	Summoning Mastery +3
16th	Geometer 1	+7	+7	+4	+17	Concentration +1 (19), Decipher Script 9, Disable Device 4, Intimidate 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) +3 (11), Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 4, Spellcraft 4	-	Glyph of Warding, Draw Spellglyph
17th	Demonologist 7	+7	+7	+4	+17	Concentration +1 (20), Decipher Script 9, Disable Device 4, Intimidate +2 (14), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) +3 (14), Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 4, Spellcraft 4	-	Hold Demon
18th	Demonologist 8	+8	+7	+4	+18	Concentration +1 (21), Decipher Script 9, Disable Device 4, Intimidate +2 (16), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) +3 (17), Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 4, Spellcraft 4	Chosen of Evil	Telepathy
19th	Demonologist 9	+8	+8	+5	+18	Concentration +1 (22), Decipher Script 9, Disable Device 4, Intimidate +2 (18), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) +3 (20), Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 4, Spellcraft 4	-	Summoning Mastery +4
20th	Demonologist 10	+9	+8	+5	+19	Concentration +1 (23), Decipher Script 9, Disable Device 4, Intimidate +2 (20), Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) +3 (23), Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Search 4, Spellcraft 4	-	Dominate Demon

Spoiler: Spells (Wizard)

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Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
3rd	3	2	-	-	-
4th	4	3	-	-	-
5th	4	3	2	-	-
7th	4	4	3	-	-
8th	4	4	3	1	-
9th	4	4	4	2	-
16th	4	5	4	2	1

Spellbook:
0: All except evocation, transmutation. (this includes two Conjuration spells: Acid Splash and Caltrops)
1: Cause Fear, Extract Drug, Grease, Hypnotism, Mage Armor, Shield, Spontaneous Search
2: Invisibility, Mindless Rage, Scare, Vision of Entropy (DW: Bane, Doom)
3: Adoration of the Frightful, Bands of Steel, Curse of the Putrid Husk, Willing Sacrifice (Geo: Glyph of Warding)
4: Dimension Door, Remove Curse

Typical Spells Prepared (ECL 20):
0: Detect Magic, Read Magic, Preserve Organ, Prestidigitation + Caltrops
1: Grease, Grease, Hypnotism, Shield, Spontaneous Search + Mage Armor
2: Mindless Rage, Invisibility, Vision of Entropy, Vision of Entropy + Extract Drug
3: Adoration of the Frightful, Curse of the Putrid Husk + Bands of Steel
4: Remove Curse + Dimension Door

Spoiler: Spells (Demonologist)

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Spells per Day

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
10th	2	-	-	-
11th	2	2	-	-
12th	3	2	2	-
13th	3	3	2	2
14th	4	3	3	2
15th	4	4	3	3
17th	4	4	4	3
18th	5	4	4	4
19th	5	5	4	4
20th	6	5	5	4

Spoiler: Spotlights

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5: You're a wizard with soul binding instead of 3rd-level spells, which isn't great - but you're still a wizard, so you should be fine. Do crowd control with Grease, keep yourself safe with Mage Armor and the odd Shield, and screw over single targets with Mindless Rage and Scare. Hypnotism helps in social situations, Search helps with exploration (neraphs have a racial bonus and we'll put some ranks here in the future), and Extract Drug can summon up all sorts of little bonuses when needed. Naberius is your best vestige option anyway, so any ability damage from substance abuse is quickly healed.

You also get a pact augmentation - +2 to initiative is probably the best one, but +1 to saves isn't bad either.

10: We get into a PrC right on cue thanks to Dread Witch's multiclass-friendly prereqs. Our fear effects can now affect creatures otherwise immune to fear, we're basically immune to fear ourselves, all our fear is harder to resist, and once per day we can add the fear descriptor to a spell that otherwise wouldn't have it. The last ability is a bit weird: it talks about creatures 'targeted' but gives an area spell and a summon spell as examples. If the ability is ruled to work with Summon Monster, that's just another nice bonus for when we become a proper demonologist.

Speaking of which all Summon Monsters we'll get from this point on are only a single standard action to cast, courtesy of us being a conjurer. It's a nice bonus for a spell we'll be relying on so much.

More importantly, we grab Insane Defiance. Now, whenever we use a mind-affecting effect (fear spells, but also Naberius' Command ability), we can target it at ourselves, immediately take a point of wisdom damage to redirect the effect, and impose a -4 penalty on our real target's saving throw, then recover the lost wisdom near-instantly with naberius. Because we are a chaotic evil outsider, we're a valid target for our own Charm Demon and can use the trick with that, too... and Hypnotism is a great follow up to use on treated-as-friendly creatures.

Just as an example, take Curse of the Putrid Husk, an [Evil, Fear, Mind-Affecting] save-or-lose that dazes for 1 round and renders the target unconscious thereafter. Its DC is effectively 23, at a level where enemy Will save bonuses hover around +9. That's a two-thirds chance to end a level-appropriate battle on turn 1! Granted, it won't stay that good forever, but we'll have new tricks to make up for it by then.

I'd also like to note real quick that the BoVD on page 77 suggests giving Doom the [Evil] descriptor, which'd be a nice bonus for us. It's worth asking the DM!

15: We have a new trick. Note how the earlier description of Dread Witch conspicuously left out Absorb Fear? That's because we're breaking it wide open right about now.

First, become shaken. There's a number of ways to do this, but the easiest is simply to have an ally Demoralize you. Your save vs fear is pretty impressive by this point, and your party might not include anyone with high enough intimidate... but your shiny new Quasit familiar shares your skill ranks, has okay charisma, and can shift into a medium form to eliminate the size penalty, meaning he can get the job done in a few tries.

(The quasit has another use: he's an Evil creature with Fast Healing and thus a prime target for Willing Sacrifice, which deals 1d10 damage to him and gives you a floating attack/save/skill/damage/ability check bonus half that amount - thanks, buddy!)

Next, use Charnel Miasma on yourself. Because you are shaken, this is a save-or-be-panicked (note how this is not normal fear escalation, the panicked effect exists unto itself). Before you actually have to make a saving throw, use Insane Defiance to shift it off to your quasit (who will be shaken at worst and get immune after a while). You were unquestionably 'exposed to a condition that could make you panicked', and thus gain a free 2nd-level spell. You can even do this in combat if there's a shaken foe nearby to offload Charnel Miasma to - it's far from the worst use of your action in that case.

But alright, free spells of 2nd-level and lower. That's getting us free drugs, Mage Armor and Invisibility for everyone in the party, always-up Shield, always-up Detect Magic, free Preserve Organ castings (helpful with demonologist's weirder material components and the Toad's weirder appetites), a result-of-20 Spontaneous Search whenever we enter a new room. Pretty neat... but we've only talked about wizard spells so far.

For a Demonologist, a class where massively underleveled spells are the entire point, this is AMAZING. Endless Magic Circle Against Good, Demonflesh, and Protection From Energy as party-wide buffs, free Demoncalls whenever you need to recall some lore or sacrifice a poor sap? Don't mind if I do! And, of course, endless Summon Monster IIs that get upgraded to Summon Monster Vs: Fiendish Giant Crocodiles and Tigers are far from useless if you have an infinite amount of them (if nothing else, they make great trap-trippers). There's some fun to be had with endless Bestow Curse, too - no reason not to hit every captive you take with a dozen of crippling ailments.

Other than that, our access to the Death Domain gives us Death Ward, which is a solid buff, as well as Animate Dead for if you want minions that actually stick around. We're now immune to poison and resistant to energy, making us a lot harder to kill than we previously were (and able to devour fallen foes with more impunity - eat a salamander or ooze, why not?).

I'd just like to note that most demonologists will probably put the required 15 in wisdom with the utmost of reluctance, but for us, we need 14 anyway to get the most out of Arcane Disciple, and given how commonly we'll take a point of damage to the stat, increasing that to 15 makes good sense. Even if Demonologist didn't have the sacrificial mastery prerequisite, I might've gone with this amount of wisdom!

20:
Our Summon Monster IIs are now grabbing from the 6th-level list, giving us unlimited access to fun things like Windscythes (big flying brutes that spread fear), giant constrictor snakes, huge monstrous spiders, and Ghostwalk's artaagliths, which can raise undead and come with cleric spells. I'd just broadly like to note that fear goes great with summoning: if you can get someone panicked, they run away and provoke AoOs from every summoned monster near them.

A quick dip in Geometer gives us Glyph of Warding, letting us store 3rd-level or lower spells (hello there, Summon Monster 7 and your beautiful fiendish girallons, babaus, and giant octopodes). Even without summon monster, this still lets you store Dancing Chains, Dimensional Anchor, Stunning Screech, or Bestow Curse! Dance of Ruin is another fun option that singlehandedly obsoletes the blasting mode. Note that GoW can be cast on moveable objects, so this quickly becomes a very attractive spell-storing medium.

Note the synergy between GoW and our summon spam. In a dungeon situation, you can prepare the battlefield with glyphs, then start sending summons into the rooms ahead. Either the enemies stay put and you slowly whittle them down, or they come out to face you and blunder right into your spell traps. It's low risk, high reward - even if the foes flee you still made progress with only a little GP expended.

We also learn to create complex glyphs that eliminate a spell's verbal components. This is mostly interesting with Dread Word, which is [Evil], deals charisma drain and only has verbal components: in noncombat situations we can use it without making it obvious we are the one using it. Suppressing verbal components is also neat for when we're invisible - as is our telepathy, allowing our party to communicate without immediately giving away their position. There's also some fun to be had with invisibly casting Silent Delayed Visions of Entropy, then starting the fight just as all the fear effects take hold.

Hold Demon and Dominate Demon are two more Mind-Affecting SLAs we can bounce off of ourselves for bigger effect - the latter is especially nice to seize control of called demons and avoid the whole 'bargaining' stage. Rendering the fiend shaken first further reduces its chance of making the saving throw.

Our final feat is Chosen of Evil. It's our fourth vile feat, so we can now take 1 point of constitution damage to get a +4 bonus on any skill check or save. With our 20 charisma and +1 Diplomacy bonus from learning Adoration of the Frightful, we can make a standard action diplomacy check that will always suffice to render hostile creatures unfriendly or turn friendly creatures (rendered so by Charm or Adoration of the Frightful) helpful - nice for the off day where you don't want to fight.

Our Intimidate is up to +37 with this boost, or +39 against evil targets, which is enough to intimidate about any humanoid and most outsiders out there. Even a balor is only rolling with +31 to oppose!

We also max out knowledge (religion), giving us a final modifier of: 23 ranks + 2 intelligence + 4 sacrificial mastery + 10 demoncall = +39. Thus, we're making the DC 40 check for a Limited Wish 100% of the time - if we're angling for Control Weather or Wish we can drop the +4 Chosen of Evil bonus to get a 95% and 70% chance respectively. Willing Sacrifice gets you most of the rest of the way there. Even without that boost, 'one limited wish for every captive you sacrifice' is already near the upper limit for what you can expect out of sacrifice optimization. Your other knowledge skills, though not as optimized, are still easily in the entirely acceptable low-to-mid twenties thanks to Demoncall.

Spoiler: Variant, not part of the build

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I couldn't get fit in, due to being forced to ban transmutation, but you could use the Charnel Fear engine to get limitless castings of Heroics. If the spell stacks with itself (rules are ambiguous on this point), you'd be granting dozens of fighter bonus feats to a single target. I'll leave it to the playground to come up with some fun uses for that trick (Martial Study and Martial Stance seem promising, though).

Spoiler: Sources

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Neraph: PlH

Binder: ToM
Dread Witch: HoH
Geometer: CArc

Insane Defiance: EE
Arcane Disciple: CDiv
Charnel Miasma: CChamp
Chosen of Evil: EE

Extract Drug, Curse of the Putrid Husk: BoVD
Bands of Steel, Mindless Rage, Spontaneous Search: SComp
Adoration of the Frightful: DM
Vision of Entropy: FCI
Willing Sacrifice: EoE

Laogzed's domains: CD
(really, any CE Death god works, and there's a few of those - I just liked the flavor)

Quote adapted from Ambrose Bierce.

[The Viscount]

Were you reminded of the Brady Bunch? You are now!

Aries Darantas of Lhazaar:
Heretic-Thrice, Shade-Blooded Hustler, Once Esteemed Urchin of the Paragnostic Assembly, He Who Drank the Blood of the Forgotten God, Pretty Bad Feller All 'Round When You Think About It Really, Bringer of the RAMPOCALYPSE, Betrayer of the Dragon Below, [Redacted-For-PG-Reasons] Enthusiast Extraordinaire, Wearer of the Helm, The One That Shall Become.



NE->CE pathetic noncombatant male human->Spellscale¹ spellthief² 11, Demonologist 9.

Spoiler: A Life Well Lived

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Spoiler: Home

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When you grow up where I did, you learn to get by.

You learn that food comes when food comes, you learn that violence is the way of the world, you learn that underneath every quaint little hamlet there are endless heaps of bones. You learn to laugh, and smile, and sing like everything is going to be alright, already is alright. You learn to be a lover, not a fighter (I'll admit to learning that lesson very well.)

You learn to keep your head down when those who actually matter walk past you. Charm doesn't work on them like it does on real folk. You don't want to get their attention. You don't want them to remember that you exist.

You don't want to fracture the illusion. There's only one rule, really: you do not mess with the charade.

Knights in shining armor, fighting for the poor and the misfortunate. Waging a crusade for justice and chivalry all across the principalities!

Yeah, right. I'm sure that's why they drown every unannounced ship that gets too close.

People say my island principality is a pristine, idyllic picture of days that have gone by for the rest of the Lhazaar Principalities, and Khorvaire at large. Beautiful little farms dot the quiet meadows, underneath the majestic shadows of peaceful mountains, mists rolling over them like bliss over a midsummer dream. People also say my island is ruled by benevolent masters, powerful lords of illusory magic that came from Aundair long before the Last War.

Could you imagine having such a low opinion on humanity, that you'd be willing publicize that what seems like a quaint little piece of paradise is ruled by illusionists, trusting that no one will be able to put two and two together?

Could you imagine, even in your wildest dreams, being right about that?

My people aren't serfs. We aren't slaves. We aren't cattle. We're much, much less.

We're set dressing.

I did wonder, back then, what gave them the right. They're rich, sure, but riches are a fleeting thing that can be taken away. They're knowledgeable, but knowledge can be stolen, distributed. They have magic – but magic too, so I found, can be taken away. Huh.

They didn't like that, they didn't like that one bit. Like I said: You do. Not. Mess. With the charade.

I was taught invaluable lessons, then. Lessons of glorious pain and depravity. I thought I knew suffering before, believed the fools who said that grief and sorrow are worse than simple physical pain. Simple? Most people have no idea where the limits of their body are. How far one can push without killing, the richness and complexity of truly exquisite pain.

Did I really think that we could share it all? Life isn’t about having wealth, or knowledge, or magical prowess. These are all means to an end, to the true meaning of life: power over others. And that – there's no sharing that. It's a zero-sum game. Kill or be killed. If you wish to be the boot, someone else has got to be the squishy, juicy vermin. I took that lesson to heart, at the time. And there's much truth to it.

But there's so much more.

Spoiler: Spiraling Downward

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They let me go. Branded, tormented, with intimate first-hand knowledge of how a body is stretched upon an altar, they unleashed me upon the unsuspecting continent. Did they know, even then? Could they? With their magic, did they see what I had already forgotten? A fascinated child looking upon a single iridescent drop of blood, suspended in a puddle. Something only whispered of in the dark networks of Breland and Aundair.

In the continent, I bloomed. What I did by pure instinct before, I now mastered, and was ready and willing to take, to devour, the magic of others. I now know that the blood within me was begging for more to be spilled. I wished to master as I had been mastered, to torture as I had been tortured.

How pitiful is the unambitious mind!

As I mastered my abilities, and studied the secrets arcane, I started seeing… hints. A society, keeping esoteric knowledge like a legendary dragon keeps its horde. The Assembly. I may have resented them, was I to meet them as a youth, but I learned my lessons well. Nothing has value if everyone has it; knowledge is to be savored, to be taken, to be kept deep and cold and quiet and oozing. I was ready and willing, and they let me in – and started sending me after the secrets of the depths of Khyber, to research the mysteries of the insane cults that worship those depths.

I joined one, naturally. A cult, that is – or perhaps another cult would be a better way to put it, since the Assembly wasn't exactly not-a-cult, if I'm being honest. It was great fun, like most cults. There are lots of body-fluids to be spilled, and each is fun in its own way. Well, depending on the fluid, and on which side of the exchange you are on.

My cult was not one the Assembly has heard of before, and I was handsomely rewarded for finding it. We worshipped an unnamed evil lurking within the depths, something of eyes unending – and we did so with a zealotry that put to shame even the most fanatical worshippers of the Pure Flame. We were fools, yes, but we were all having tremendous fun.

Well, save for the sacrifices, of course – though I'd like to think some of them got into the spirit of things as well.

I sometimes ponder where that fanaticism has gone. I reckon it's still with me, in a way. Tempered, matured, grounded in far deeper understanding. That started once my attention was diverted even further down and away.

Stare long enough at the abyss, and the abyss stares back.

Spoiler: Enlightenments

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I cannot do this in writing. How could dead letters on a page describe the feeling of delving into the glorious darkness? How could I communicate the warm breath on your neck, the fingers dancing down your spine, the knife spilling your own intestines on the floor? I cannot, so I shall not, but know this: mastering and being mastered are one and the same. Power and passion are one and the same. There is nothing to run away from, only something to run towards, to endlessly rush and tumble forward in the insane pursuit that is the goal itself, to submerge yourself so deep into depravity that you emerge to the heights of redemption. Words are worthless. Experience! Experience it all! Horror is no worse and no better than pleasure. Only intensity matters. The flesh is a means to an end, and can be changed to enhance, to heighten. Light, darkness, pleasure, pain, blood, blood, blood, blood – and fire.

Demonology. Everything else seemed pale. The cult, ridiculous and pathetic, the cheap imitation of an echo's shadow. The further I advanced in my journey, the weaker my faith has become – until I turned against them in an orgy of bloodshed. The Assembly, a resource and no more, sending me away from what matters in life.

But inertia takes time to break. It'd be more than a year before I left the Assembly. I joined a group of acolytes on our way to the greatest cache of wisdom in the entire universe.

Do you have any idea what it feels like, to go through two separate spiritual awakenings and one physical transformation in the span of mere months? The soul tears apart, breaks down. A dog cannot serve two masters. Oh, how I wished I hadn't seen!

But I had. The catalogues store everything. Be it the history of Sarlona, the sexual preferences of amphibious animals – or the discoveries of the Eyes of Aundair and the King's Dark Lanterns on the influence of the mysterious matter known as "divine blood" on a mortal soul.

Memories awakened. A single drop, suspended in a puddle. Everything I am, everything I will be. A condensed energy of murder and shadow, tangy on my lips, changing me to my core.

What was this so called "Divine Blood?" Some theories suggested this was concentrated magic, oozing from Xoriat. Others explained that its appearance was a precursor to the mourning, a dark and foreign energy that must be contained. All laughed at the superstition spreading among those that have been exposed to it that it was a divine essence, a dark mirror to the Silver Flame – something foreign, truly foreign.

But I knew the truth, felt it to my core. I have a new god – no, I've always had a god, and didn't know it.

And he's dead.

Spoiler: Apotheosis

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Miserable days. My new body wanted to experience it all, to relish in my magical might. I summoned beings that were never meant to be, enslaved them and was enslaved by them in return. Perfection, I would've thought.

But I was haunted by what was, by the spirit of my true master. What was I doing, summoning demons, when I should be looking for a way to summon him? To bring his essence into the world, watch him arrive and shake the entire theological underpinning of the world?

My mind shies away from these pathetic memories. Blindness, self-pity, shame. These are not worthy of me – yet I force myself to remember. I'm just a mortal man, and mortal men err. I'll have to remember that, for the day I'm not one anymore draws nearer and nearer.

For now I see clearly. It was like a lightning strike, that moment when everything coalesced. Why could I do things no other could? Why did ritual murder, the very essence of my power, also bring demons to my door? Abyssal power, upon which I can call like no other? A god waiting to return, or to become? What is a god? An essence, a mind, unlimited planar power.

I can draw infinite power from the abyss. I never run out, like others do. More, and more, and more.

I have a mind, a presence more powerful than any man.

And I have the essence.

I was obsessed with a non-exsitent mythology, convinced that I had drank the blood of a god. In a way, I was right – except there is no "him" to try and bring back, there never was. There is only that essence, seeking to become complete, calling to the Abyss. Demonology is the tool.

And I am the vessel.

I am that which I am. I will bring myself back. I will coalesce again, as I must have once done. Mortal mind, divine essence, and infinite power shall become one.

I am Aries.

But through the power of the Abyss below, I have been – will be – must be –

God.

Spoiler: Tables and Babaus and Rams, oh my!

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Abilities	32 PB	4th	8th	12th	13th (Rite)	16th	20th
STR	6 (pathetic)	"	"	"	"	"	6
DEX	14	"	"	"	"	"	14
CON	10	"	"	"	8	"	8
INT	8	"	"	"	"	"	8
WIS	15	"	"	"	"	"	15
CHA	18	19	20	21	23	24	25

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Spellthief 1	0	0	0	2	+4 Bluff (4), +4 Concentration (4), +4 Knowledge-Arcana (4), +4 Knowledge-Local (4), +4(cc) Knowledge-religion (2), +4 Spellcraft (4)	Magical Training3, Sacrifical Mastery, Evil Brand, Penumbra Bloodline4	Sneak Attack 1d6, Steal Spell (0 or 1st), Trapfinding
2nd	Spellthief 2	1	0	0	3	+1 Bluff (5), +1 Concentration (5), +1 Knowledge-Arcana (5), +1 Knowledge-Local (5), +1(cc) Knowledge-religion (2.5), Spellcraft 4, +1 Use Magic Device (1)	-	Detect Magic, Spellgrace +1, Steal Spell Effect
3rd	Spellthief 3	2	1	1	3	+1 Bluff (6), +1 Concentration (6), Knowledge-Arcana 5, Knowledge-Local 5, +1(cc) Knowledge-religion (3), Spellcraft 4, +3 Use Magic Device (4)	Malign Spell Focus	Steal Enegy Resistance 10
4th	Spellthief 4	3	1	1	4	+1 Bluff (7), +1 Concentration (7), Knowledge-Arcana 5, Knowledge-Local 5, +1(cc) Knowledge-religion (3.5), Spellcraft 4, +3 Use Magic Device (7)	-	Steal Spell (2nd)
5th	Spellthief 5	3	1	1	4	+1 Bluff (8), +1 Concentration (8), Knowledge-Arcana 5, Knowledge-Local 5, +1(cc) Knowledge-religion (4), +2 Search (2), Spellcraft 4, +1 Use Magic Device (8)	-	Sneak Attack 2d6, Steal Spell Like Abillity,
6th	Spellthief 6	4	2	2	5	+1 Bluff (9), +1 Concentration (9), Knowledge-Arcana 5, Knowledge-Local 5, Knowledge-religion 4, +3 search (5), Spellcraft 4, +1 Use Magic Device (9)	Arcane Disciple5 (Dragon Below6, Summoner7)	Steal Spell (3rd)
7th	Spellthief 7	5	2	2	5	+1 Bluff (10), +1 Concentration (10), Knowledge-Arcana 5, Knowledge-Local 5, Knowledge-religion 4, +3 search (8), Spellcraft 4, +1 Use Magic Device (10)	-	Absorb Spell
8th	Spellthief 8	6	2	2	6	Bluff 10, +1 Concentration (11), Knowledge-Arcana 5, Knowledge-Local 5, +5 Knowledge-Planes (5), Knowledge-religion 4, Search 8, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 10	-	Steal Spell (4th), Seeker of Unseen Words8 (Knowledge-planes)
9th	Spellthief 9	6	3	3	6	Bluff 10, +1 Concentration (12), Knowledge-Arcana 5, Knowledge-Local 5, +3 Knowledge-Planes (8), Knowledge-religion 4, Search 8, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 10, +2 Swift Concentration9	Ordered Chaos10	Arcane Sight, Sneak Attack 3d6
10th	Spellthief 10	7	3	3	7	+3 Bluff (13), +1 Concentration (13), Knowledge-Arcana 5, Knowledge-Local 5, Knowledge-Planes 8, Knowledge-religion 4, Search 8, Spellcraft 4, +2 Use Magic Device (12), Swift Concentration	-	Steal Spell (5th)
11th	Spellthief 11	8	3	3	7	+1 Bluff (14), +1 Concentration (14), Knowledge-Arcana 5, Knowledge-Local 5, Knowledge-Planes 8, Knowledge-religion 4, Search 8, +2 Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, +2 Use Magic Device (14), Swift Concentration	-	Spellgrace +2, Steal Energy Resistance 20
12th	Demonologist 1	8	3	3	9	+1 Bluff (15), Concentration 14, +1 Knowledge-Arcana (6), Knowledge-Local 5, Knowledge-Planes 8, +2 Knowledge-religion (6), Search 8, Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 14, Swift Concentration	Master Spellthief11	Charm Demon, Steal Spell (6th)
13th	Demonologist 2	9	3	3	10	+1 Bluff (16), Concentration 14, -2 Knowledge-Arcana (4), -5 Knowledge-Local (0), Knowledge-Planes 8, +3 Knowledge-religion (9), -8 Search (0), Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, -1 Use Magic Device (13), Swift Concentration	Magical Training	Quasit Familiar, Rite of Spellscale Assumption12
14th	Demonologist 3	9	4	4	10	+1 Bluff (17), Concentration 14, Knowledge-Arcana 4, Knowledge-Planes 8, +2 Knowledge-religion (11), Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 13, Swift Concentration	Arcane Disciple -> Craft Wondrous Item, Ordered Chaos -> Planar Touchstone13 (Catalogues of Enlightenment14, Charm15)	Summoning Mastery +2, Steal Spell (7th), retraining16, NE->CE
15th	Demonologist 4	10	4	4	11	+1 Bluff (18), Concentration 14, Knowledge-Arcana 4, Knowledge-Planes 8, +2 Knowledge-religion (13), Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 13, Swift Concentration	Godsblood Spelltheft17 (Bhaal18, Death)	Resistances
16th	Demonologist 5	10	4	4	11	+1 Bluff (19), Concentration 14, Knowledge-Arcana 4, Knowledge-Planes 8, +2 Knowledge-religion (15), Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 13, Swift Concentration	-	Poison Immunity, Steal Spell (8th)
17th	Demonologist 6	11	5	5	12	+1 Bluff (20), Concentration 14, Knowledge-Arcana 4, Knowledge-Planes 8, +2 Knowledge-religion (17), Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 13, Swift Concentration	-	Summoning Mastery +3
18th	Demonologist 7	11	5	5	12	+1 Bluff (21), Concentration 14, Knowledge-Arcana 4, Knowledge-Planes 8, +2 Knowledge-religion (19), Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 13, Swift Concentration	Heretic of the Faith19 (Bhaal18, Abyss20)	Hold Demon, Steal Spell (9th)
19th	Demonologist 8	12	5	5	13	+1 Bluff (22), Concentration 14, Knowledge-Arcana 4, Knowledge-Planes 8, +2 Knowledge-religion (21), Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 13, Swift Concentration	-	Telepathy
20th	Demonologist 9	12	6	6	14	+1 Bluff (23), Concentration 14, Knowledge-Arcana 4, Knowledge-Planes 8, +2 Knowledge-religion (23), Speak-Abyssal, Spellcraft 4, Use Magic Device 13, Swift Concentration	-	Summoning Mastery +4

Spells Known:

Magical Training: Acid Splash, Caltrops²¹

Spellthief (helm not included):

1st: Nerveskitter²² (level 4), Sniper's Shot²³ (level 4), Summon Monster I (Level 6-13), Ebon Eyes²⁴ (level 8), + Obscuring Mist (bloodline).

2nd: Mirror Image (level 8), Ray of Stupidity²⁵ (level 8), Summon Monster II (level 10-13), + Darkness (bloodline).

3rd: Haste (level 11), Summon Monster III (level 11-13), + Nondetection (bloodline).

Spells of the Abyss Domain²⁰:

1st: Align Weapon, Cause Fear

2nd: Bull's Strength, Death Knell

3rd: Babau Slime, Summon Monster III (CE only)

4th: Balor Nimbus, Poison

5th: Slay Living, Summon Monster V (CE only)

6th: Mass Bull's Strength, Harm

7th: Destruction, Summon Monster VII (CE only)

8th: Finger of Death, Bodak's Glare

Spells Per Day (cha not included)

Level	Magic Source	0th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1st	Magical Training	3	-	-	-	-
4th	Spellthief	-	0	-	-	-
5th	Spellthief	-	0	-	-	-
6th	Spellthief	-	1	-	-	-
7th	Spellthief	-	1	-	-	-
8th	Spellthief	-	1	0	-	-
9th	Spellthief	-	1	0	-	-
10th	Spellthief	-	1	1	-	-
11th	Spellthief	-	1	1	0	-
12th	Demonologist	-	1	-	-	-
13th	Demonologist	-	1	1	-	-
14th	Demonologist	-	2	1	1	-
15th	Demonologist	-	2	2	1	1
16th	Demonologist	-	3	2	2	1
17th	Demonologist	-	3	3	2	2
18th	Demonologist	-	3	3	3	2
19th	Demonologist	-	4	3	3	3
20th	Demonologist	-	4	4	3	3

Spoiler: So like, what's going on here?

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Aries starts his adventuring career as a haunted refugee, banished from his homeland of a Lhazaar Principality called Nimbral, ruled by illusion-casting immigrants from the main arcane spellcasting nation of Eberron. Basically, a port of Faerun's Nimbral²⁶ to Eberron, to help the cross-setting material slide easier down your throat. His attempts to understand his powers have brought him to the Paragnostic Assembly⁸. He exclusively adventures for them from levels 1-8, quickly gaining recognition and appreciation, until other interests draw him away. Eventually, around level 15 or so, he'll lapse on his payments and be banished from the Assembly forever. Being crass and looking behind the curtain for a second, he got what he needed by level 9: eight ranks of Knowledge-Planes as a class skill.

Mechanically, Aries is a spellthief with a bit more magic than others. He can cast Acid Splash for far more reliable sneak attacks at these early levels, though caltrops may see some use as well. His magical training qualifies him for Penumbra Bloodline, though it'll only start helping him at level 4.

As a spellthief, he's admittedly slightly behind when it comes to fighting – his Dex is no more than fine, and though a range touch attack as a sneak-attack / steal spell carrier is a great addition to his capabilities, he can only do that three times a day. He does have the advantage of having a higher Charisma than would be commonplace. This powers his spells, keeps his steal-spell-effect very competitive, and gives him ample uses of detect magic (and arcane sight later on).

He's also an excellent hustler, with full ranks in bluff and high charisma, advantages he'll keep for his entire career. These levels see him as a somewhat generalist skill monkey. UMD starts coming online as money becomes more accessible, allowing Aries to function as a wandslinger – a classic form of Eberron warfare since the Last War. His own acid splash, as well as wands of acid splash, melf's acid arrow, orbs of all kinds, etc, should prove a more effective method of dealing with enemies than his trusty light crossbow.

Spellwise, he'll soon be well equipped to keep his sneak attack going. For now, nerveskitter should certainly help. He's not a main damage dealer, but being able to steal spells without having to risk going flanking in melee is important. Of course, many casters would not be an issue to come face-to-face with, but some will. Obscuring mist from his bloodline (not normally accessible to spellthieves) serves as a nice get-away from level 4, but gains some more kick at level 6, when it can be combined with Summon Monster 1. I'm not going to pretend a small fiendish monstrous spider is a game changer at level 6, but it can still be useful against appropriate opponents, and obscuring mist helps back up the tremorsense.

That spider is there due to him becoming an Arcane Disciple of the Cult of the Dragon Below, picking the summoner domain to open up the summon monster line of spells for use even before he goes into the SI. There'll be some interesting things happening with these spells, so watch out.

Still, as appropriate for a spellthief, it's mostly spelltheft itself that gives him his combat utility. Even when not facing spellcasting enemies, his ability to essentially double the action-economy of a full caster should prove an essential asset – and when fighting casting enemies, he's unparalleled. Absorb spell comes on at level 7, and is a huge boost to everything he does.

Level 8 gives him the combo of darkness and eboneyes. His 20 in Cha before items means he can fuel that for a while before having to rely on absorbed/stolen spell energy. It also brings forth the excellent mirror image and Ray of Stupidity – a hugely impactful spell that he can add sneak attack / steal spell on top of. If you're ever caught with your trousers wands off, this is a good spell to make sure you still have more impact than you would with a crossbow.

Level 9's ordered chaos is a nice feat to have when messing with demons and devils, but it's mainly here to qualify him for the SI despite being none-chaotic. He also takes swift concentration at this level, which isn't much help with his native spells, but is a very useful tool to have for a spellthief, if you find yourself stealing a concentration spell. At level 10, he gets Summon Monster II, and at level 11, he gets 3rd level spells.

Nondetection from his bloodline is phenomenal, especially for an evil conman like him who's likely to mess with outsiders looking for vengeance. Summon Monster III is Summon Monster III, and that’s not great. Haste is haste, and that is great. You can obviously see why haste is extra-awesome for a summoner, especially with Aries' CL about to shoot up, as he goes into Demonologist. Once he leaves the SI, master spellthief will keep up his CL and his steal spell limit – but everything else, including the amount of spell levels he can hold at once, is going to stay behind, which is why it was so crucial to avoid other classes if possible on his way to the SI.

Spoiler: rant

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Do you have any idea how freaking hard it is to get 6 arcane conjuration spells (including a third level one) on an evil spellthief 11?

I really, really don't think you do.

No bloodline offers more than one conjuration spell for levels 1-3. No corrupt spell below sixth level is conjuration. No dual-school spells of the appropriate levels are conjuration/A school I'm allowed to pick. No sneaky racial choices, since I'm limited to human/elf to pick a feat and take the only two conjuration cantrips in the entire game.

No CE gods offer enough conjuration through their domains. The only alternative to what I'm doing would be the healing domain, through some NE FR orc goddess²⁷ I could've picked for the ability to go through the rite of spellscale assumption 1 level earlier. It just doesn't work with the character. If you were to write a less deranged and more casually-evil version, it could work – though it'd be introducing even more Faerun material to this build already riddled with cross-setting choices.

Rant done.

As I said before the rant, into the SI we go! Aries is still in the cult and in the assembly, but he's starting to drift towards a different form of Khyberism – demonology, rather than his cult devoted to a Daelkyr. First level of the SI isn't that great for most, but Aries gets master spellthief! Not only does he get to steal 6th level spells, all his spells are now CL 12 – miles better than the CL 1 you'd normally have for demonologist spells right now. Fully pumped Cha helps with Charm Demon.

Next level, more goodies. The breakneck spell-advancement of the first 4 levels of demonologist is still greatly benefiting from the CL boost. More importantly though, this is also the level where Aries goes through the Rite of Spellscale Assumption. He loses some skill points and his cantrips (enough conjuration spells now to still qualify without them), Cha gets increased by 2, and he gets access to a whole slew of changeable metamagic feats through blood quickening meditations.²⁸

His quasit familiar (Festum, easily agitated male capable of bat and wolf forms) enjoys access to a busted bluff score and great UMD, and provides him with invisibility at will through steal SLA, making his life much easier (especially as it comes to sneak attacks), and some resistance through steal energy resistance. Nice!

It is sometime during the next level that Aries finally loses his faith in his cult, and betrays it. He might be hunted by agents of Belashyrra for the rest of his life.

Level 3 brings lots of mayhem. I don't need to tell you about lesser/planar binding (well, I'll tell you just a little bit about it later) but I'll note that despite his low Int and only 4 points in spellcraft, a blood quickening meditation of Io gives Aries a big enough spellcraft boost to still take 10 on a diagram on days he wishes to do some calling. Same meditation also gives him access to the empower spell feat. This level also brings forth Summoning Mastery, the shining jewel of the SI. Access to the fifth level list is great – and many summons can still enjoy tactical support through low-level options such as darkness or obscuring mist. But it's more than that: Summoning Mastery happens when you pick the monsters. It's not an effect you place or not place on the spell. You cast the spell all the same as every other caster, but when you start picking monsters, your list looks different. That's fundamentally different from, say, metamagic or the like.

And that's crucial, because while Steal Spell doesn't let you apply any metamagic, sudden metamagic, etc effects to spells, you'd still be casting summon monsters – and when picking monsters, you'd still use summoning mastery. So, if Aries steals a Summon Monster from an enemy, he gets the extra oomph. If he snatches a summon monster VII, for instance (which he became able to at exactly this level), he gets to pick options from Summon Monster IX.

Personally for Aries, this is where he discovers his new faith and becomes CE, retraining his now-dead feats for planar touchstone and craft wonderous items. 15 Wis prerequisite comes into use here, allowing access to some high-level divine magic once in a blue moon, in the form of Charm Monster and below in the charm domain list. A 16k Wis-Increasing item in later levels could push it all the way to dominate monster, which is nice. Of course, the granted power itself is awesome, and helps many of his class features on both classes. Craft wondrous item is useful, and easier for a spellthief to take advantage of than to most spontaneous casters – Aries can potentially have access to any spell. However, its most important usage here is to craft the Drake Helm²⁹, allowing him to add up to four spells to his known spellthief spells. This is done by casting spells of the appropriate levels into the item.

He chooses Summon Monster I, II, III, which he can cast himself as a demonologist, thus not needing any outside help to add them to his spellthief list. Yes, he just had these spells as spellthief spells, but he used to only be able to cast them as a spellthief once per day, and now he can cast them as long as he has the spell slots / steals or absorbs spells of the appropriate level. Yes, he can already cast them as a demonologist (it's how they're made, remember?) but now he can also cast them as a spellthief. Yes, that's important.

That can suffice, but a fourth slot isn't that expensive. The fourth spell will depend on which useful spell he happens to steal / have a scroll of / have a body cast for him. I'm not planning for that, since that's obviously harder to control. Glibness and Scrying would both make great choices taken from a bard, though.

As for retraining itself: note that retraining is heavily discouraged in the OP, and that an elegance penalty will be appropriate. I'd like to argue, though, that I'm using retraining just as intended: to represent a shift in the character's outlook and experience, just like the example given in the book. Well, maybe less so for ordered chaos, which implies a heritage that nothing in the build keeps implying once its gone. It's up to you how severely you see this, but at least some elegance penalty is definitely in order.

Level 4, final and craziest level of the crazy power rush of early demonologist. Having CL 15 rather than 4 is still very useful, as is having maxed Cha on a +Cha race – greater bestow curse is an incredibly powerful offensive option, and having a high DC for it is crucial. In a level that has planar binding, greater bestow curse, and so much more, I'd still like to shout out the humble Summon Monster IV. With summoning mastery, it gives Aries access to the Ram-headed Artaaglith³⁰, his favorite monster to summon. You may have met them already this round: Artaagliths are awesome. They have animate dead as an SLA (fun!), and they cast as fifth level clerics, including domains. Their typical prepared spell list shows up in Ghostwalk's 3.5 update¹⁷. It's not exactly optimized, and is somewhat superfluous with Aries's own spells, but it's still useful obviously. This level also gives Aries resistances, which kind of steal the thunder from his ability to steal energy resistance – though they might stack, and demonologist doesn't grant sonic resistance.

This level also symbolizes Aries's deeper understanding of his powers, following his discoveries on his past at the Catalogues last level. He can now replace any spell he steals with a lower-level spell from the death domain, which is quite versatile, even if not precisely optimal for what he's doing, up to Cha times per day - and he's got great Charisma. Everything up to create undead is fair play at this level, with destruction coming next level, alongside poison immunity. Aries doesn't need to worship the source of the "divine blood" to get the domain from him, but he still does, as seen in his story.

It's level 17, though, when the proverbial excrement hits the fan. This level grants Summoning Mastery +3. That means access to the 7th level list (Arrow Demon, Babau, all great fun) but it also means you can now summon 1d3 Artaagliths – or one Artaaglith, using Summon Monster 3. One artaaglith. That has two third level slots. With summon monster 3.

Rampocalypse.

You summon a ram. You steal both his prepared 3rd level spells. You use them to cast a third level spellthief spell you know – like summon Monster 3, through your Drake Helm. Rinse and repeat, ad infinitum. Combat ends? Steal the spells from your remaining rams, and cast SM3 again sometime within the coming hour to refresh. You can also steal more of their spells, to cast or to power your own. Infinite rams, and infinite spellthief spells, at the cost of one 3rd level spell slot per day. Keep as many of those stolen spells in your pool as you wish. One is fine to leave yourself open to stealing more spells during encounter, but you can hold two or three if you think you'd want to summon in quick succession.

When summoning mastery +4 kicks in, at your final level, it increases to 1d3 rams from SM3, one from SM2 – so you can summon more, quicker, at the cost of one 2nd level spell slot per day. And normal summoning is still completely accessible – more so, with access to the 7th level list and below essentially at-will. Also, unless you think you're going to need to spam rams really quickly, it also means that you can reduce the place they take in your pool to one 2nd level slot, leaving Aries open to steal up to 9th level spells.

I'll get to the rest of what Aries is doing in his last few levels, but first, as I promised, a few words on calling options for a spellthief.

Spoiler: planar binding and dark sacrifices

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The two main planar calling spell chains are planar ally and planar binding. You don't control which planar allies you get, so there's not much to be discussed about them – even though Aries has access to them both from sacrifices (the thing we have Sacrificial Mastery for) and semi-natively from level 18 onward. Even though you can't control which monster you get, note that many appropriate outsiders will have the sort of personal-range or self-only SLAs that'd be a blast for Aries to mooch.

Speaking of sacrifices, divine power for 24 hours is very achievable from mid-levels onward with a DC of 25, even without wands such as guidance of the avatar¹⁷ or lore of the gods³¹, which Aries can use with UMD and that pretty much trivialize the whole affair. Divine power can be very helpful to land the sneak attacks that give him spells. Cat's grace for 24 hours is achievable pretty much from the earliest levels, and makes for a good alternative to Dex-Boosting items - if you have enough people to murder.

Getting back to Planar Binding, the identity of which you can control; Aries has the advantage of very high Cha, with an extra +4 from the charm domain for the Cha Check. Charm demon works great on, well, demons, but Charm monster from the higher-order ability can be used to great effect on other beings, if it's important enough. Soften 'em up with a (greater) bestow curse, too.

Everyone enjoys Planar binding, but having established Aries's great capabilities at actually achieving it, I'm going to look at a few specific examples where he benefits more than others; that is, some monsters to take spells from while they work for you.

Arcanaloths³² have the same alignment as Aries and make for absolutely busted summons anyway, with their Cha not even being that high; they cast as 12th level sorcerers, and Aries can mooch of their spells too, up to 6th level spells. Rakshasa are also fine, if you're looking for something less threatening.

If you want to play with more dangerous game, Aries can bind Ghaele Eladrin, Trumpet Archon, Couatl and the like. Again though, that's just way more dangerous pray. High risk, high reward. In this case, stealing 7th level cleric spells for free.

Back to business. How does Aries utilize Summoning Mastery further?

Well, at level 18 Aries takes heretic of the faith. The Apotheosis part of his fluff above reflects his bonkers worldview, but it makes a lot of internal sense. He qualifies for the feat using his divine casting from his higher-order ability, and he can use it to replace the Bhaal domain (death) he has access to through his Godsblood Spelltheft to the Abyss domain – he's a demonologist, you know. It's what he does.

Every spell he steals (and he can now steal 9th level spells) can be used to cast a lower level Abyss spell, up to his Cha times a day. These include a bunch of powerful offensive spells that can really enjoy his high spell DC and CL, but also include summon Monster V (CE only, fine by him) which means he has access to the summon monster IX list whenever he steals a 6th level spell (like from an Arcanloth, but anytime really)

And Aries still enjoys everything else the class has to offer! A great speaking familiar he can bestow UMD/bluff on and take SLAs from, all his spellslots save one 2nd level, CL 20, 25 Charisma before items for all of the class abilities, full ranks in knowledge (religion) for sacrificial purposes, and planar binding (again enjoying his 25 Cha before items, and Charm Demon of course) which he can use like everyone else, on top of mooching SLAs and spells (including 6th level spells, which means Summon Monster 9) from his called outsiders. Even without those, Aries is a force multiplier for every other caster: if the wizard prepares summon monster IV or V, Aries can summon SM8/9 demons if he casts it for her.

The only thing he misses out on is unfortunately the capstone, but that can't be helped. Besides, he can partially imitate it with limited access to dominate monster if he gets a +4 Wis item, so that somewhat softens the blow.

I think we proved beyond all doubt though, that the real capstone of the class was never Dominate Demon. It was, very much literally –

The friends we made along the way!

Spoiler: Footnotes

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1. Races of the Dragon, page 23.
2. Complete Adventurer, page 13.
3. Player's Guide to Faerun, page 41.
4. Dragon Compendium, page 103.
5. Complete Divine, page 79.
6. Faiths of Eberron, page 131.
7. Spell Compendium, page 281.
8. Complete Champion, page 72.
9. Complete Scoundrel, page 90.
10. Fiendish Codex I, page 86.
11. Complete Scoundrel, page 79.
12. Races of the Dragon, Page 32.
13. Planar Handbook, pages 41-42.
14. Planar Handbook, pages 166-167.
15. Spell Compendium, page 271.
16. Player's Handbook II, page 193.
17. Web, linked in text.
18. Lost Empires of Faerun, page 41.
19. Power of Faerun, page 46.
20. Spell Compendium, page 282.
21. Spell Compendium, page 42.
22. Spell Compendium, page 146.
23. Spell Compendium, page 194.
24. Spell Compendium, page 77.
25. Spell Compendium, page 167.
26. Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, pages 150-151.
27. Faiths and Pantheons, page 150.
28. Races of the Dragon, page 25.
29. Explorer's Handbook, pages 151-152.
30. Ghostwalk, page 157.
31. Complete Champion, page 124.
32. Monster Manual II, page 203.

[The Viscount]

Demons are so in.

Esmée’s party or when fun with fiends is not just a web article

Spoiler: Preview

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Alignment : NE
Race : Illumian
Level 1 : Sacrificial Mastery, Evil Brand (Elder Bonus)
Level 3 : Malign Focus Spell
Level 5 : Heighten Spell (Human Bonus), Willing Deformity (Elder Bonus)
Level 6 : Spell Focus (Conjuration)
Level 9 : Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment : Summoner Domain)
Level 10 : Deformity (face) (Elder Evil Bonus)
Level 11 : Augment Summoning (Thaumaturgist Bonus)
Level 12 : Twin Spell
Level 15 : Cloudy Conjuration, Evil’s Blessing (Elder Bonus)
Level 18 : Mindsight
Level 20 : Insane Defiance (Elder Bonus)


Point Buy at level 1
STR 8
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 15
CHA 16 +2 Human Paragon at 5th

Level 4 in Wis, levels 8 to 20 in Cha

Spoiler: The Story

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Once upon a time, in a small village nestled deep within the forest, lived a young girl named Esmée. She had delicate features, bright eyes, and an infectious smile that charmed the hearts of all who saw her. But despite her outward appearance, Esmée led a solitary life, struggling to make friends with the other children in the village.
Esmée yearned for companionship. She watched the laughter and camaraderie shared by the village children, longing to be a part of their joyful world. Desperation gnawed at her young heart as she wondered why no one seemed interested in her. Was she too strange? Too different? These questions plagued her every waking moment.
One fateful evening, as the sky cast shades of orange and pink, Esmée stumbled upon an ancient book hidden in the dusty attic of her family home. Its pages were full of cryptic symbols and enigmatic verses. Curiosity sparked within Esmée, and she carefully flipped through each page, absorbed by the forbidden knowledge within.
Little did Esmée know that this ancient tome contained secrets that should never have been unearthed. It was a grimoire of dark magic, a gateway to a sinister realm. Fascinated, she found a forbidden spell that promised to summon creatures from the depths of the shadows. An idea began to form in her young mind—a desperate attempt to conjure friends of her own, regardless of their origin.
Reciting the incantation, Esmée placed the pendant upon the ground, pouring her loneliness and longing into every word. The air grew heavy with anticipation, and shadows began to dance around her; the spell worked. From the depths of the abyss emerged eerie beings, cloaked in darkness and whispering strange promises of friendship.
In her jubilation, Esmée failed to notice the warning whispers that filled her mind. The creatures were demons, clever creatures who delighted in the pain and torment of humans. But to the young girl, they appeared as her long-desired friends, offering the connection she craved.
Days turned into weeks, and the demons reveled in their newfound insidious playmate. Esmée grew intoxicated by their dark presence, as their cruel games slowly twisted her innocent mind. What had begun as an innocent desire for friendship now transformed into a dire obsession for power.
Driven by her madness, Esmée turned to the final pages of the grimoire, searching for the most forbidden of spells. Her demagogue soul craved the presence of an Elder Evil, a creature so potent that its name alone evoked fear.
Ignoring the warning signs, Esmée enacted the incantation: a crescendo of forbidden words that reverberated through the world, unsettling life itself. The earth trembled, and a dark figure materialized before her, a twisted creature with burning eyes and cloven hooves.
The Elder Evil's voice echoed within Esmée's mind, promising untold power and control, all to serve its malevolent purpose. As the world teetered on the precipice of annihilation, Esmée had never felt more considered by others ; her friends were really good to her.

Spoiler: The Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Cloistered Cleric 1	0	2	0	2	Concentration (+4) 4; Diplomacy (+4) 4; Know (Arcana) (+4) 4; Know (Religion) (+4) 4; Know (the Planes) (+4) 4; Spellcraft (+4) 4;	Sacrificial Mastery, Evil Brand (Elder Bonus)	Lore, Charm, Knowledge and Spell Domains, Spontaneous Domain Casting (Spell)
2nd	Cloistered Cleric 2	1	3	0	3	Concentration (+1) 5; Diplomacy (+1) 5; Know (Arcana) (+1) 5; Know (Religion) (+1) 5; Know (the Planes) (+1) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 5;
3rd	Cloistered Cleric 3	1	3	1	3	Concentration (+1) 6; Diplomacy (+1) 6; Know (Arcana) (+1) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 6; Know (the Planes) (+1) 6; Spellcraft (+1) 6;	Malign Focus Spell
4th	Human Paragon 1	1	3	1	5	Concentration (+1) 7; Diplomacy (+1) 7; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 7; Know (the Planes) (+1) 7; Spellcraft 6;		Adaptative Learning
5th	Human Paragon 2	2	3	1	6	Concentration (+1) 8; Diplomacy (+1) 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 8; Know (the Planes) (+1) 8; Spellcraft 6;	Heighten Spell (Human Bonus), Willing Deformity (Elder Evil Bonus)	Bonus Feat
6th	Human Paragon 3	3	4	2	6	Concentration (+1) 9; Diplomacy (+1) 9; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 9; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft (+1) 7;	Spell Focus (Conjuration)	Ability Boost +2
7th	Demonologist 1	3	4	2	8	Concentration 9; Diplomacy (+1) 10; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 10; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft 7;		Charm Demon
8th	Demonologist 2	4	4	2	9	Concentration 9; Diplomacy (+1) 11; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 11; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft 7;		Quasit Familiar
9th	Demonologist 3	4	5	3	9	Concentration 9; Diplomacy (+1) 12; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 12; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft 7;	Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment : Summoner Domain)	Summoning Mastery +2
10th	Thaumatugist 1	4	5	3	11	Concentration 9; Diplomacy (+1) 13; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 13; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft 7;	Deformity (face) (Elder Evil Bonus)	Improved Ally
11th	Thaumatugist 2	5	5	3	12	Concentration (+2) 11; Diplomacy (+1) 14; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 14; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft 7;	Augment Summoning (Thaumaturgist Bonus)	Augment Summoning
12th	Thaumatugist 3	5	6	4	12	Concentration (+2) 13; Diplomacy (+1) 15; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 15; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft 7;	Twin Spell	Extended Summoning
13th	Thaumatugist 4	6	6	4	13	Concentration (+2) 15; Diplomacy (+1) 16; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 16; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft 7;		Contigent Conjuration
14th	Demonologist 4	7	6	4	14	Concentration 15; Diplomacy (+1) 17; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 17; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft (+2) 9;		Resistances
15th	Demonologist 5	7	6	4	14	Concentration 15; Diplomacy (+1) 18; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 18; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft (+2) 11;	Cloudy Conjuration, Evil's Blessing (Elder Evil Bonus)	Poison Immunity
16th	Demonologist 6	8	7	5	15	Concentration 15; Diplomacy (+1) 19; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 19; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft (+2) 13;		Summoning Mastery +3
17th	Demonologist 7	8	7	5	15	Concentration 15; Diplomacy (+1) 20; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 20; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft (+2) 15;		Hold Demon
18th	Demonologist 8	9	7	5	16	Concentration 15; Diplomacy (+1) 21; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 21; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft (+2) 17;	Mindsight	Telepathy
19th	Demonologist 9	9	8	6	16	Concentration 15; Diplomacy (+1) 22; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 22; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft (+2) 19;		Summoning Mastery +4
20th	Demonologist 10	10	8	6	17	Concentration 15; Diplomacy (+1) 23; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Religion) (+1) 23; Know (the Planes) 8; Spellcraft (+2) 21;	Insane Defiance (Elder Evil Bonus)	Dominate Demon

Spoiler: Spells progressionS

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Level	Class	0th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1st	Cleric 1	3	1+1
2nd	Cleric 2	4	2+1
3rd	Cleric 3	4	2+1	1+1
4th
5th	Cleric 4	5	3+1	2+1
6th	Cleric 5	5	3+1	2+1	1+1
7th
8th
9th
10th	Cleric 6	5	3+1	3+1	2+1
11th	Cleric 7	6	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1
12th	Cleric 8	6	4+1	3+1	3+1	2+1
13th	Cleric 9	6	4+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1

Level	Class	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
7th	Demonologist 1	1
8th	Demonologist 2	1	1
9th	Demonologist 3	2	1	1
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th	Demonologist 4	2	2	1	1
15th	Demonologist 5	3	2	2	1
16th	Demonologist 6	3	3	2	2
17th	Demonologist 7	3	3	3	2
18th	Demonologist 8	4	3	3	3
19th	Demonologist 9	4	4	3	3
20th	Demonologist 10	4	4	4	3

Spoiler: Level Breakdown

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Level 1 – 5
Cloistered Cleric’s might is obvious to everyone participating in these comps… though maybe not in this Demonologist round. It makes sense because even though we’re going for a Cha-based build, we need 15 Wis as a prereq for Sacrificial Mastery so we might as well go all in.
The high Cha gives us more turn undead attempts which our Illumian’s Naenhoon power sigil can make great use of. The Charm Domain granted power helps too.
6+Int skills, 2 good saves and cleric casting is pretty great even at early level and our two domains are Charm and Spell from which we get the first SoL of the game : Charm Person.
Mage Armor and Silence (early AMF) are the 2 first gems of the Spell domain and they already give an arcane-y feeling to this build especially since Spontaneous Domain lets us cast those spells by expending another prepared spell, on the spot.
Using the Illumian human subtype to get into Human Paragon and while we’re losing a casting level (can only go up to Cleric 9 and not 10, big whoop) we gain significant advantages :
Diplomacy as a permanent class skill, a much needed bonus feat and eventually +2 to Charisma.
Oh and since Esmée is very much into summoning demons and whatnot, he serves the Elder Evil Sertrous which grants him the Evil Brand as a bonus feat (EEp10) as well as Willing Deformity at 5th.

Level 5 – 10
This is where everything falls into place.
Human Paragon 3 grants us 3rd level spells. We’re using Anyspell + Heighten + Naenhoon sigil to qualify for Demonologist (see Notes & Discussions).
The first 3 levels of the SI are giving us a Charm Demon ability and a Quasit Familiar.
The latter can use Commune 1/week in order to get intel of what the gods would rather have as sacrifice in the coming days, ensuring this is conducted to their satisfaction.
Our Cleric casting opens up Sacrificial Skill (BoVD), Lore of the Gods (CC) and Guidance of the Avatar (Web) while Demonologist 2 lists Demoncall (BoVD). This translates into a +40 to Know (Religion).
Adding in a masterwork tool and a sacrificial knife (BVoD 113) we have a +45 to the check and that’s even before considering you have the ability to desecrate an area (and unhallow it too later), can conduct the rite on an altar, for over an hour, etc.
You easily get Wish by level 8 and this has to be some kind of record !
What’s more you can conjure up outsider allies as per the Greater Planar Ally reward for a few hours per day at ECL 8 mind you, and we like this so much we enter… Thaumaturgist ! (See Notes & Discussions)
Planar Touchstone takes advantage of the Know (the Planes) 8 prereq we’ve had to fill and we get the Catalogues of Enlightenment (Summoner Domain). This gets us a good +2CL for Conjuration (Summoning/Calling) spells as well as extra summoning spells should we need it because we ran out of slots.
The first level gives us 50% off with a good Diplomacy check and we’re rather good at this. By ECL 10 we have 13 ranks + 4 Cha (no item) +2 Evil’s Brand +2 Deformity (face) meaning we have a 55% chance to turn them helpful. If it fails you can always try to use the Charm Demon ability from the Demonologist for the same effect.

Level 10 – 15
We stay in Thaumaturgist for 4 levels and they’re all worth it. First off, we’re getting 5th level spells, Augment and Extend Summoning are both playing to our strengths and Contingent Summoning is just bonkers ; Summon Monster V scales up to VII via Summoning Mastery meaning Arrow Demons are up (MMIII) with +4 Str/Con and for twice as long.
Twin Spell comes into play meaning that you can use Turn Undead attempts to double the amount of summons you get (both benefiting from Augment Summoning too).
Back to Demonologist to get our 4th level spells including Greater Bestow Curse which is nothing to sneeze at.
Now we’re summoning demons all the time :
Planar Ally Lesser via Cleric casting, Planar Ally (Greater) via sacrificial rituals and Planar Binding via Demonologist. The goal is to summon a Loumara type demon (CE so legal) and have it possess us (given it’s entirely in its nature, it might agree to do it for free as the Planar Ally spell mentions). Then we cast Imprison Possessor and we get a permanent demon inside of us. Sure it can lead to us losing the control of our actions but being CE and whatnot, what’s the worst that could happen ? We can always communicate with the demon (a Dybbuk for instance FCI p36) and threaten to cast Impotent Possessor (and actually do it sometimes since it’s dispellable). Bargain with the demon in the manner of the Extract Gift spell (FCI) while allowing it to have limited control over your actions and get the benefits from the spell as well as the +4 profane bonus it can grant for possessing you.

Level 15 – 20
Finishing the SI we get immunity to poison which is useful for our Cloudy Conjuration feat ; we can hide in a kind of stinkingcloud-lite everytime we cast a conjuration spell which is a lot of times.
We get Mindsight to make good use of our telepathy ability.
Hold Demon is a bit underwhelming (especially the save DC) but Dominate Demon can have its uses considering the amount of summoning we do in a day.
Summoning Mastery culminates at “spell level +4” which means we can have SMVIII via Demonologist and SMIX via Cleric !
Evil’s Blessing is a really good defensive buff and Insane Defiance is a trump card we get from serving Sertrous.
Speaking of, you might just be able to let your Elder Evil friend roam the Material Plane since you get to cast Gate through the Summoner Domain ! Imagine what you can do with this and a bit of Diplomacy (because Improved Ally applies here)!! Of course your CL is 9 in Cleric and 10 in Demonologist is a bit lacking but serving an Elder Evil is all about chaos and destruction ; such a mad character doesn’t really care about controlling anything really.

Spoiler: Equipment

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Cha boosting items are a given. Circlet of Persuasion has its uses too.
Wisdom boosting (+4) is necessary to use the higher order abilities of the Catalogues of Enlightenment.

Sacrificial Knife for the sacrificial rituals (BVoD)

Nightsticks of course (LM)

Spoiler: Notes & Discussions

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- Qualifying via Cleric.
Anyspell allows us to choose, prepare and cast an any arcane spell up to 2nd level. This natively takes care of the “able to cast 6 arcane spells of the Conjuration school” as long as we have a spellbook with Grease, Glitterdust, Web, Fog Cloud, Dimension Hop and Benign Transposition for instance.
For the 3rd level arcane conjuration spell, we need Heighten Spell and the Naenhoon power word to upcast a 2nd level arcane spell we have prepared through Anyspell that will effectively be a 3rd level spell for all intents and purposes.
Spontaneous Domain Casting answers the “but you can only do this 1/d” rebuttal that, while not RAW, can be opposed to this method of entry.

- Qualifying for Thaumaturgist.
The Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment : Summoner Domain) says

Once per day, you may cast a spell from the cleric domain you have chosen, as though you had prepared the spell normally. You must be of sufficient character level to cast the spell and have a Wisdom equal to 10 + the spell’s level.

This means we need ECL9 (which is when we get the feat) to be able to cast the required spell to enter Thaumaturgist. What’s more, CAr 72 mentions that in order to enter PrCs that have a specific spell requirement, you just need to be able to mimic the spell’s effect so even though it’s not a true casting of the spell, it ought to be enough.

- Stopping at 15 ranks in Concentration is on purpose since we have +2 from Con (no item) and +2 from the Spell Domain’s Granted Power making this 20 with a nat1 meaning we can cast defensively any spell at our disposal.

Spoiler: Sources

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RoD - Illumian, Power Sigils
BoVD - Demonologist, Sacrificial Rewards
Spell Compendium - Anyspell, Spell domain
SRD - Charm domain, Thaumaturgist, Heighten Spell
PHB II - Spontaneous Domain Casting
CAr - Twin Spell
PH - Planar Touchstone
CM - Cloudy Conjuration
FCI - Demonic Possession, Extract Gift
GitP - List of all legal Summons (Solamith is in SMVIII and not SMVII as it is listed in the guide)

[The Viscount]

If I'm reminded of Yugioh the Abridged series, does that make me juvenile or old?

Abigor knew who he want to be from the very beginning. From childhood he heard voices. Calls of various demons. They cried out to him, promised power and serving. Was this delusions or true demons'? Who knows. But Abigor believed. He knew: to summon demon he need to be trained wizard and not the weakest one. So he became apprentice of on great wizard and all were good until one time he disclosed his true aim. With shame the master drove him out of his disciples and defamed him all over most of his colleagues. Nobody wanted to teach Abigor anymore. And those who were ready, he himself feared those.
Abigor was forced to change his way and take the sword instead of the staff, he was a mercenary now. Years passed. Abigor hired here and there and once he got an interesting recruitment. Caravan guard. Sounds ordinary? Yes, but the caravan itself was not ordinary. It was an interplanar caravan heading through several planes to the City of Doors. It was a rare opportunity he had no right to miss.
Travel was hard, most of the guards died or were lost. Only three out of a few dozen mercenaries have achieved finish. Abigor was one of them. It was a priceless experience. During the journey his magical potential revealed itself from an unexpected side - he found himself able to make supernatural or rather spell-like "travels." Employer said it is called "Jaunter." Some people have an affinity, gift to dimensional traveling and it could reveal if they go through planes.
Gift or not, but Abigor understood - planar travels are too dangerous for him at this moment. His new abilities, however, opened for him one new door - joining the Wayfarers Union. Abigor needed to promote his magical skills and this organization was open for everybody experienced enough to cast teleport and have advanced knowledge in some areas. And his old teacher's defamatory words didn't matter here.
It was a pleasant surprise for Abigor when Wayfarers revealed one of their secrets to him. One slightly secret technique which gives regular members extra teleportation every day. But for Abigor it was much more! It was a true 5th level spell, he could cast. True cast, not as his Jaunter ability. Only thing he needs - get Teleport in his old spellbook - not a problem at all.
This one spell wasn't just a spell. It gave Abigor understanding of high levels of magic and this understanding was enough to become true Demonologist. His aim, his dream was here!

CE Human Focused Specialist High Conjurer Wizard 1/Armored Mage Fighter 4/Jaunter 3/Wayfarer Guide 2/Demonologist 10

Spoiler: Stats

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Abilities	Initial	4th	8th	12th	16th	20th	Total
STR	10						10
DEX	14						14
CON	14				1	1	16
INT	14		1	1			16
WIS	14	1					15
CHA	14						14

Spoiler: Level promotion

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ECL	Class	BAB	Fort	Reflex	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Focused Specialist High Conjurer Wizard 1	0	0	0	2	20: {+4} Knowledge (arcana): 4; {+4} Knowledge (geography): 4; {+4} Knowledge (religion): 4; {+4} Knowledge (the planes): 4; {+4} Spellcraft: 4;	Evil Brand (1), Demon Mastery (H), Augment Summoning (W)	Enhanced summoning, summon familiar, school specialisation (Conjuration), prohibited schools (Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion)
2nd	Armored Mage Fighter 1	1	2	0	2	5: {+2 CC} Knowledge (arcana): 5; {+2 CC} Knowledge (geography): 5; Knowledge (religion): 4; Knowledge (the planes): 4; {+1} Ride: 1; Spellcraft: 4;	Dodge (F)	Armored mage (demonologist), bonus feat
3rd	Fighter 2	2	3	0	2	5: {+2 CC} Knowledge (arcana): 6; {+2 CC} Knowledge (geography): 6; Knowledge (religion): 4; Knowledge (the planes): 4; {+1} Ride: 2; Spellcraft: 4;	Malign Spell Focus (3), Mobility (F)	Bonus feat
4th	Fighter 3	3	3	1	3	5: {+2 CC} Knowledge (arcana): 7; {+2 CC} Knowledge (geography): 7; Knowledge (religion): 4; Knowledge (the planes): 4; {+1} Ride: 3; Spellcraft: 4;
5th	Fighter 4	4	4	1	3	5: {+2 CC} Knowledge (arcana): 8; {+2 CC} Knowledge (geography): 8; Knowledge (religion): 4; Knowledge (the planes): 4; {+1} Ride: 4; Spellcraft: 4;	Spring Attack (F)	Bonus feat
6th	Jaunter 1	4	4	3	3	7: {+2 CC} Knowledge (arcana): 9; {+2 CC} Knowledge (geography): 9; Knowledge (religion): 4; {+2} Knowledge (the planes): 6; Ride: 4; Spellcraft: 4; {+1} Tumble: 1;	Sacrificial Mastery (6)	Travel power, benign transposition
7th	Jaunter 2	5	5	4	4	7: {+1 CC} Knowledge (arcana): 9.5; {+1 CC} Knowledge (geography): 9.5; Knowledge (religion): 4; {+2} Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; {+1} Speak Language: 1; Spellcraft: 4; {+2} Tumble: 3;		Baleful transposition, fast movement
8th	Jaunter 3	6	5	4	4	7: {+1} Concentration: 1; {+1 CC} Knowledge (arcana): 10; {+1 CC} Knowledge (geography): 10; Knowledge (religion): 4; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; {+2} Speak Language: 3; Spellcraft: 4; {+2} Tumble: 5;		Dimension door, teleport
9th	Wayfarer Guide 1	6	5	4	6	5: {+1} Concentration: 2; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+3} Knowledge (religion): 7; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+1} Spellcraft: 5; Tumble: 5;	Cloudy Conjuration (9)	Enhanced capacity, improved range
10th	Wayfarer Guide 2	7	5	4	7	5: {+2} Concentration: 4; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; Knowledge (religion): 7; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+3} Spellcraft: 8; Tumble: 5;		Extra teleportation
11th	Demonologist 1	7	5	4	9	7: {+1} Bluff: 1; {+1} Concentration: 5; {+3} Intimidate: 3; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 8; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+1} Spellcraft: 9; Tumble: 5;		Charm demon
12th	Demonologist 2	8	5	4	10	8: {+1} Bluff: 2; {+1} Concentration: 6; {+3} Intimidate: 6; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+2} Knowledge (religion): 10; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+1} Spellcraft: 10; Tumble: 5;	Versatile Spellcaster (12)	Quasit familiar
13th	Demonologist 3	8	6	5	10	8: {+1} Bluff: 3; {+1} Concentration: 7; {+3} Intimidate: 9; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+2} Knowledge (religion): 12; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+1} Spellcraft: 11; Tumble: 5;		Summoning mastery +2
14th	Demonologist 4	9	6	5	11	8: {+1} Bluff: 4; {+2} Concentration: 9; {+2} Intimidate: 11; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+2} Knowledge (religion): 14; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+1} Spellcraft: 12; Tumble: 5;		Resistances
15th	Demonologist 5	9	6	5	11	8: {+1} Bluff: 5; {+1} Concentration: 10; {+2} Intimidate: 13; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+3} Knowledge (religion): 17; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+1} Spellcraft: 13; Tumble: 5;	Practiced Spellcaster (demonologist) (15)	Poison immunity
16th	Demonologist 6	10	7	6	12	8: {+1} Bluff: 6; {+2} Concentration: 12; {+2} Intimidate: 15; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+2} Knowledge (religion): 19; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+1} Spellcraft: 14; Tumble: 5;		Summoning mastery +3
17th	Demonologist 7	10	7	6	12	8: {+1} Bluff: 7; {+2} Concentration: 14; {+3} Intimidate: 18; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 20; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+1} Spellcraft: 15; Tumble: 5;		Hold demon
18th	Demonologist 8	11	7	6	13	8: {+1} Bluff: 8; {+2} Concentration: 16; {+1} Intimidate: 19; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 21; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+1} Spellcraft: 16; Tumble: 5; {+2} False Theurgy;	Arcane Disciple (Summoner) (18)	Telepathy
19th	Demonologist 9	11	8	7	13	8: {+1} Bluff: 9; {+2} Concentration: 18; {+2} Intimidate: 21; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 22; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+2} Spellcraft: 18; Tumble: 5; False Theurgy;		Summoning mastery +4
20th	Demonologist 10	12	8	7	14	8: {+1} Bluff: 10; {+2} Concentration: 20; {+2} Intimidate: 23; Knowledge (arcana): 10; Knowledge (geography): 10; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 23; Knowledge (the planes): 8; Ride: 4; Speak Language: 3; {+2} Spellcraft: 20; Tumble: 5; False Theurgy;		Dominate demon

Languages: Common, Draconic, Elven, Abyssal, Infernal, Celestial.

Spoiler: Wizard spells

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Level	Class	0th	1st	5th
1st	Wizard	2+2	0+2+1
9th	Wizard	3+2	1+2+1
10th	Wizard	3+2	1+2+1	1

Spell known.
1: Mage Armor, Shield, Summon Monster I, Wall of Smoke (Spell Compendium, p. 235), Black Bag (Book of Vile Darkness, p. 86), Nether Trail (Book of Vile Darkness, p. 99), Create Trap (Races of the Dragon, p. 112)
5: Teleport

Spoiler: Snapshots

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Spoiler: 5th level

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Wizard 1/Fighter 4. Not a great caster, but can something, mostly hit-and-run type melee fighter with the best weapon he could find. Feats and skill allocation look strange, yes.

Spoiler: 10th level

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Jaunter 3/Wayfarer Guide 2 on top of base classes. These two prestige classes greatly increase my mobility and fully close prerequisites for SI. Thanks for wizard, I'm not limited in the levels of spells that I can write in my spellbook from scrolls and could cast Teleport now.
Feats and skills? Still strange. Prerequisites or for growing.

Spoiler: 11-20th level

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SI here! Obvious banger is Summoning mastery. Cool point is I don't just use it like all regular Demonologists, I also have the ability to cast 5th level spells via Versatile Spellcaster and know Summon Monster V via Arcane Disciple (Summoner) (I gave my allegiance to the Great Mother of all gods). This effectively means SM IX once per day.
Since I had to have Wis 15 for Sacrificial Mastery, I decide to use it for something beneficial.

Quasit familiar is another cool ability. It devours my familiar and I "suffers no experience point loss?" Ok. What will happen if I obtain a new one? Looks like quasit devours it, too, and I again "suffers no experience point loss." Do you know what I'm thinking about? Yes, I'm thinking about sacrifice.
There are these lines in the Typical Sacrifice Elements table:

Sacrifice Element	Knowledge (Religion) Modifier
Sacrifice loses extremities to hungry demon prior to death	+1
Sacrifice is pure or virginal (as determined by the DM)	+1
Sacrifice has 11–15 HD or levels	+3
Sacrifice has 16+ HD or levels	+4

It all could be true for my familiar. Yes, I need a full day to obtain a new one, but free sacrifice could be worth the time.

Telepathy is good for summoner type to give commands without revealing it to foes.

Dominate demon and Charm demon could work with demons called via Planar Ally.

Spells apart from Summon Monsters I-IV and Planar Bindings are mostly just spells. Some are useful, some not very. Maybe Call Nightmare has some synergy with my few Ride ranks.

Spoiler: Books

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Type	Name	Book	Page
Race	Human	PHB	12
Class	Wizard	PHB	55
Class	Fighter	PHB	37
Prestige Class	Jaunter	Expedition to the Demonweb Pits	172
Prestige Class	Wayfarer Guide	Complete Arcane	65
Prestige Class	Demonologist	Book of Vile Darkness	54
Class variant	Focused Specialist	Complete Mage	34
Class variant	High Conjurer	Unearthed Arcana	60
Class variant	Armored Mage	Complete Mage	32
Feat	Evil Brand	Fiendish Codex I	85
Feat	Demon Mastery	Fiendish Codex I	85
Feat	Augment Summoning	PHB	89
Feat	Dodge	PHB	93
Feat	Mobility	PHB	98
Feat	Spring Attack	PHB	100
Feat	Sacrificial Mastery	Book of Vile Darkness	50
Feat	Cloudy Conjuration	Complete Mage	40
Feat	Malign Spell Focus	Book of Vile Darkness	49
Feat	Versatile Spellcaster	Races of the Dragon	101
Feat	Practiced Spellcaster	Complete Arcane	82
Feat	Arcane Disciple	Complete Divine	79
Domain	Summoner	Spell Compendium	281
Skill Trick	False Theurgy	Complete Scoundrel	86

[The Viscount]

Enjoy our excellent entries for this round! Judges, over to you!

[H_H_F_F]

Looking forward to reading these!

[remetagross]

Wow, lots of creative stuff in here. Congrats to all contestants!

My first idea revolved around calling possessor demons to have them forcibly make their host pronounce Dark Speech words to kill them on the spot. But any full caster did that way better than Demonologist.

My second idea was to have a Lawful Evil Demonologist (with Ordered Chaos) that would secretely be fighting for the devils' side of the Blood War. Starting out as any race with the Outsider type and sharing Alter Self with its familiar, the character would turn into a (apparently, forcibly called) tanar'ri and the quasit into a Neraph Demonologist. The telepathy, immunity to poison and energy resistance of the class would help the PC pass for a true demon. Then, they would call real tanar'ris and the PC would convince them (with their host of demon-oriented SLA's) to accept whatever mission the Quasit was assigning to them by pretexting that they would later team up to betray the "Demonologist". This way, the PC would churn through demons and destroy them by convincing them to embark on various suicidal missions / outright sacrificing them.

[loky1109]

Table!

#	Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Total	Place
1	Darcy Covenant	CE Ice Gnome	Gnome Fey Bard 6/ Wild Soul 2/Demonologist 9/Sublime Chord 2/Candle Caster 1
2	The Great Horned Toad	CE Neraph	Binder 2/High Conjurer Wizard 3/Dread Witch 4/Demonologist 10/Geometer 1
3	Aries Darantas	NE🠆CE Human🠆Spellscale	Spellthief 11/Demonologist 9
4	Esmée	NE Illumian	Spontaneous Domain Casting Cloistered Cleric 3/Human Paragon 3/Demonologist 10/Thaumatugist 4
5	Abigor the Tormentor	CE Human	Focused Specialist High Conjurer Wizard 1/Armored Mage Fighter 4/Jaunter 3/Wayfarer Guide 2/Demonologist 10

[WhamBamSam]

Had intended on doing a full write up of this build, who was also a major NPC in a game that I ran, but life sort of got in the way.

[loky1109]

I had idea to enter SI via Wizard 5 and finish with Demonologist 10/Shadowcaster 10, but I didn't find what to do with Shadowcaster.

[H_H_F_F]

Had intended on doing a full write up of this build, who was also a major NPC in a game that I ran, but life sort of got in the way.

Planar cohort doesn't work for Iron Chef... would you go with the alternative +5 singer of concordance?

Hope that life getting in the way wasn't too destructive!

[Khatoblepas]

My idea was Drider 10/Conjurer 1/Demonologist 4, and using the sacrifice rules to get a wish to turn back into a lesser drow, leading to:
Conjurer 1/Demonologist 9/Prestige Bard 1/Eunuch Warlock X
To get all the bard spells up to 6th level on a demonologist chassis and perhaps boost myself up to 9th level spells with Versatile Spellcaster and Sand Shaper, since Demonologist knows all the spells on its spell list like a warmage. But, I looked at the OA update for Eunuch Warlock and it was far less interesting and didn't give you bonus spell slots, so it wasn't worth getting chewed out on Elegance yet again. I considered Sublime Chord but it just felt a little boring, so no entry from me this time.

[loky1109]

My idea was Drider 10/Conjurer 1/Demonologist 4, and using the sacrifice rules to get a wish to turn back into a lesser drow, leading to:
Conjurer 1/Demonologist 9/Prestige Bard 1/Eunuch Warlock X
To get all the bard spells up to 6th level on a demonologist chassis and perhaps boost myself up to 9th level spells with Versatile Spellcaster and Sand Shaper, since Demonologist knows all the spells on its spell list like a warmage. But, I looked at the OA update for Eunuch Warlock and it was far less interesting and didn't give you bonus spell slots, so it wasn't worth getting chewed out on Elegance yet again. I considered Sublime Chord but it just felt a little boring, so no entry from me this time.

Do you really need Conjurer here? For standard action summons, right?
Nice idea, by the way.

[daremetoidareyo]

I had a healing domain wizard 7 into fleshwarper 3/ then demonologist. The idea being that you can use extract demon essence on your quasit to create grafts to heal people. It has a healer becoming more and more egomaniacal in the quest for medical success

[H_H_F_F]

I had a healing domain wizard 7 into fleshwarper 3/ then demonologist. The idea being that you can use extract demon essence on your quasit to create grafts to heal people. It has a healer becoming more and more egomaniacal in the quest for medical success

Wouldn't demonologist 2 suffice for that, though? Seems like you'd have a hard time justifying at the very least levels 5-10 (which, granted, are the hard part to justify on any build)