Blood Magus [D&D 3.5]

[Private-Prinny]

A friend of mine loves the flavor of the Blood Magus PrC, but neither of us can put together a cohesive build because of the lost caster levels. He's never played a caster before, so I'd like to keep the base class as simple as possible. Can the playground give me some tips?

(Worst case scenario, I can see if I can get the lost progression house-ruled away. I have a very lenient DM.)

[Starscream]

It's not a bad PrC. According to the Tier thread, it's about even with a normal wizard. Since wizards are already super-powerful, he should still be plenty formidable.

[Escheton]

Well, you have to have died once...
costing you either con or a lvl.

Bursting through your opponents chest is totally worth it though

[the humanity]

Well, you have to have died once...
costing you either con or a lvl.

Bursting through your opponents chest is totally worth it though

if it happens, just take care of it early.

you could even work it into a story

'I was a precocious child, I once jumped off a cliff and died. luckily, my uncle ricky brought me back to life...'

[Private-Prinny]

Any tips for the actual build? Synergistic PrCs? A viable non-wizard base?

[Optimystik]

If you take 4 levels, you don't lose any CL at all. 9 levels only loses you 1, and Bloodwalk can be quite painlessly skipped.

Losing 1 CL is not the end of the world; you're still a tier 1 or tier 2 class. And the homunculus is both pretty cool, and should get feats.

The biggest problem with BM is not the two dead levels, it's the awful prerequisites.

[Prodan]

It has Toughness as a prerequisite, doesn't it?

(I think Improved Toughness can substitute for that, though)

[Private-Prinny]

Yeah, the prereqs are the worst I've ever seen. The lost caster levels are just icing on the cake. The real reason he wants to take Blood Magus is specifically for the Bloodwalk, so losing 2 CLs is a must for him.

Apart from Blood Magus, he wants to be a necromancer. Does Dread Necromancer have even remotely good synergy with Blood Magus and at least one other prestige class? He wants the spell selection to be as easy and painless as possible.

[Yuki Akuma]

Losing two caster levels isn't bad. You can afford to lose up to three (if you're a Wizard) and not really feel it that hard.

Sure you'll be getting spell levels late, but you'll still get 9th-level spells...

It has Toughness as a prerequisite, doesn't it?

(I think Improved Toughness can substitute for that, though)

As can Azure Toughness... Improved Toughness is better, but harder for a Wizard to qualify for.

[Pluto]

(I think Improved Toughness can substitute for that, though)

RAW, no. But it should.

(Actually, I'd see if Pathfinder Toughness could be used here. It's a much better-designed feat than either, IMO.)

[PId6]

Yeah, the prereqs are the worst I've ever seen. The lost caster levels are just icing on the cake. The real reason he wants to take Blood Magus is specifically for the Bloodwalk, so losing 2 CLs is a must for him.

Apart from Blood Magus, he wants to be a necromancer. Does Dread Necromancer have even remotely good synergy with Blood Magus and at least one other prestige class? He wants the spell selection to be as easy and painless as possible.

An actual wizard specializing in necromancy is probably much more viable, considering the 1 level earlier spell progression and the much better spell list. He can take Focused Specialist for more slots, banning Evocation, Illusion, and Enchantment (or Abjuration in place of one of the three), which partially makes up for the lost levels.

Focused Necromancer 5/Blood Magus 10/Fatespinner 4/Necromancer +1 is a perfectly fine build. Trade Scribe Scroll for Improved Initiative (or, if your DM is lenient, for one of the prereq feats). Trade the 5th level wizard feat for Spontaneous Divination. Taking human for the feat makes the prereqs more bearable, and flaws even more so. Definitely write the raise dead into the backstory, since losing a level to get in is not worth it. Alternatively, become a necropolitan to fulfill that prereq, though whether becoming undead counts for the "returned to life" clause is up to your DM.

[Private-Prinny]

An actual wizard specializing in necromancy is probably much more viable, considering the 1 level earlier spell progression and the much better spell list. He can take Focused Specialist for more slots, banning Evocation, Illusion, and Enchantment (or Abjuration in place of one of the three), which partially makes up for the lost levels.

Focused Necromancer 5/Blood Magus 10/Fatespinner 4/Necromancer +1 is a perfectly fine build. Trade Scribe Scroll for Improved Initiative (or, if your DM is lenient, for one of the prereq feats). Trade the 5th level wizard feat for Spontaneous Divination. Taking human for the feat makes the prereqs more bearable, and flaws even more so. Definitely write the raise dead into the backstory, since losing a level to get in is not worth it. Alternatively, become a necropolitan to fulfill that prereq, though whether becoming undead counts for the "returned to life" clause is up to your DM.

This is exactly the post I was waiting for. I will definitely suggest this. For flavor reasons, we'll probably say that Spontaneous Divination is him communing with the afterlife.

[Optimystik]

Ban Abjuration, not Illusion. Illusion keeps you alive at low levels, and the cleric can cast most of the good spells from the Abjuration list.

[Private-Prinny]

I actually have a mostly martial party, with only my Killer Gnome and a Wu Jen for casters, and the creation will be at level 12, so banning Illusion may not be such a bad idea.

[Escheton]

If he wants a more martial build out of it then a tombtained dread necro is pretty sweet.
Most of the blood magus trick involve getting dmg, and dread necro is selfhealing.
Free martial prof and dr, light armor and such also adds to the martial potential of the class. And can be modded to fill many other roles. Though not as much as a wizard obviously.

[Captain Six]

This adds nothing to the query but I just felt like mentioning that the Blood Magus has made its way on to all my random encounter tables. On a 100% encounter the PCs will be walking along when SPHLORTHH... Magus bloodwalks out of one of the PCs, says he's sorry and meanders off to do his own thing.

They are awesome and I fully condone them.