fatal flaw: low hitpoints

[Herzog]

I've managed to create a rather interesting character, a Dragonwrought Kobold Wizard 5/Sorcerer 1/Ultimate Magus 1.

She uses the wizard alternate class feature Eidetic Spellcaster from Dragon Magazine, and the Sorcerer racial substitution level Dragonblood sorcerer to gain Draconic Heritage.

She has also used the Draconic Rite of Passage, as well as the Draconic Reservoir feat and Greater Draconic Rite of Passage from the Races of the Dragon webenhancement to eventually get to

effective wizard level:5, casterlevel 6
effective sorcerer level:3, casterlevel 4

She has one major weakness: 11 hp (at lvl 7)...

I've already selected Mage Armor, greater mage armor, resistance to energy, protection from energy, and protection from normal missiles for my spelllist to protect her somewhat, but the fact remains that she's very vulnerable.

Does anyone know how to improve her chances of survival?
Preferably through magic item use, since I'm still free to select those.
(most other options are kind of fixed, since they have already been approved by the DM, and I don't want to keep changing things)

I'm mostly interested in:
-Reasonable amount of temporary hitpoints, preferably over large periods of time (hours)
-Ways to avoid dying when struck to below -10

any help appreciated!

 

[EroGaki]

Buy yourself a wand of Bear's Endurance and False Life. And good luck.

 

[NewJeffCT]

An Amulet of Health is absolutely necessary. A minimum of +2, if not +4 or better.

What happens if the party is surprised by a CR appropriate monster or foe? Are you going to start casting buffing spells while the party is engaging? At level 7, you are going to be facing foes that can cast level 3, 4 and 5 spells or have similar spell-like abilities. There are plenty of spells that can take you out in one round, despite protections. Vampiric Touch is untyped damage, as is Searing Light. Same with Unholy Blight.

Eventually, the party is going to tire of you dropping in every combat, so when the party cleric can cast Level 5 spells, shower him or her with 1,000gp diamonds and have them memorize Revivify for when you do drop to -10 or below - and you will.

I would also recommend Greater Invisibility.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

don´t take part in combat. Invisibility should help.

11hp at level 7? how does this work? constitution of 6 or 7?

I support amulet of health +2 and advise you to take the improved toughness feat as soon as possible. bears endurance as pointed out can help you if you don´t have access to an amulet of health +4 which i would not allow as DM at that level.
Also some items which gives you at least fire resistance 5 will be needed, because everyone can cast a fireball.

 

[Herzog]

don´t take part in combat. Invisibility should help.

I wasn't planning to. Invisibility might help, but I'm not counting on it. (not getting hit is always the best solution, but having something to buffer any hits that come through is better....)

11hp at level 7? how does this work? constitution of 6 or 7?

All classes have d4 as hp.
The two rituals that improve my spellcasting come at a total cost of 4 hp (one for the first, three for the second)
And then I rolled 1,1,2,2,2,3.
(NB:my con is 11)
So, a combination of calculated hp loss for spellcasting power and bad rolls.

I support amulet of health +2 and advise you to take the improved toughness feat as soon as possible. bears endurance as pointed out can help you if you don´t have access to an amulet of health +4 which i would not allow as DM at that level.
Also some items which gives you at least fire resistance 5 will be needed, because everyone can cast a fireball.

I don't have any feat to spare.

Point taken on the fireball (got one myself) although I'm not so sure fire resistance 5 would be enough.

I was actually hoping for some kind of item that would increase Con for hp purposes only, or something like that (allowing for the hp increase without increasing the price that much)

 

[Magesmiley]

Did you already select where to put your ability bonus for 4th level? If not, dump it into CON for +7 hp. If you have (and it isn't CON), you might consider switching. I'd seriously consider dumping your 8th level boost into CON, assuming that you live that long.

Um, take a toad familiar maybe? Or did your substitutions for the classes both forfeit the familiar (I'm not up to speed on the ones you're using offhand).

 

[Runestar]

MIC has this amulet which grants you temp hp 3/day as an immediate action.

As mentioned, false life, and it has a fairly long duration to boot.

Take improved toughness?

Mirror image is useful for soaking up hits.

Too bad you went dragonwrought, or you could at least go necropolitan for d12s.

 

[Herzog]

ability boost went into cha.
8th level is going into int.

casters really need to focus on getting their primary stats up.

but you make a good point. maybe an inherent bonus to con in combination with a CON boosting item.....

both substitutions cost me my familiar (the wizard one allows you to learn/memorize spells without having a spellbook)


about necropolitan : isn't there another way to retro-actively increase my hit die size? (that way, I would at the very least get a reroll.)

 

[pawsplay]

There is a difference between focusing on high casting stats and obsessing over them. With 11 hit points, on one cares how smart you are. In the meantime, false life has a long duration, keep it up all the time.

Take Improved Toughness. We could literally be talking +60 or +70% hit points.

In combat, get total cover whenever you can. Later in life, how about a lovely ring of evasion?

 

[frankthedm]

ability boost went into cha.
8th level is going into int.

casters really need to focus on getting their primary stats up.

Not at the cost of their life.

So, a combination of calculated hp loss for spellcasting power and bad rolls.

sacrificing HP off an arcane caster without con bonus before rolling HP falls outside of what I'd call "calculated".

Rebuilding the character somewhat will dramatically increase survivability. Otherwise
it sounds like you are gambling your life for power when you know you've already rolled snake eyes.

Improved toughness wont work until level 9. At level 6, the character won't have a +2 Fort save.

If the cleric's player agrees with you that the character is interesting, then see if they are willing to keep this spell on you Shield Other. You'll HAVE to stay within 40' / 8 squares range at all times to keep the spell from ending prematurely though, so expect "anchor" jokes at the gametable.


Shield Other
Abjuration
Level: Clr 2, Pal 2, Protection 2
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 hour/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

This spell wards the subject and creates a mystic connection between you and the subject so that some of its wounds are transferred to you. The subject gains a +1 deflection bonus to AC and a +1 resistance bonus on saves. Additionally, the subject takes only half damage from all wounds and attacks (including that dealt by special abilities) that deal hit point damage. The amount of damage not taken by the warded creature is taken by you. Forms of harm that do not involve hit points, such as charm effects, temporary ability damage, level draining, and death effects, are not affected. If the subject suffers a reduction of hit points from a lowered Constitution score, the reduction is not split with you because it is not hit point damage. When the spell ends, subsequent damage is no longer divided between the subject and you, but damage already split is not reassigned to the subject.

If you and the subject of the spell move out of range of each other, the spell ends.

Focus
A pair of platinum rings (worth at least 50 gp each) worn by both you and the warded creature.

don´t take part in combat.

I wasn't planning to

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