Beguiler gestalt

[holyplankton]

I'm in a gestalt campaign at the moment as a Dread Necromancer/Cleric, working towards the horde of undead followers, but my DM has recently been getting very much into the Game of Thrones books, so he has expressly told us that he is no longer afraid to kill our characters off at a moment's notice if it forwards the story of the campaign. I personally have no issue with this, I enjoy building the characters as much as playing them, but now I find myself in need of a good backup character, just in case.

That's when I started looking into the Beguiler. It's a solo campaign, so I would be on my own, and I was thinking of playing him as an infiltrator/thief/spy in the employ of one of the noble houses of the campaign setting. I was trying to find out which classes would meld best with that type of character in a gestalt setting.

The three I am leaning towards now are:
1) Warlock, at least for 1 or 2 levels for the Eldritch Blast and 2 utility invocations (Beguiling Influence and Spiderwalk)
2) Rogue, for the skills, sneak attack (could stack with Eldritch Blasts)
3) Bard, for more CHA-based spells and skills, and to be a better "face-of-the-party" type character, even though I don't have a party.

Any comments on how these would work or other options I haven't considered are more than welcome. Thanks folks

 

[xigbar]

You would be better off filling in for the spots that Beguiler is deficient in. Warblade would be nice, since I recall Beguiler running mostly off of Int, for spellcasting. That'll give you full BAB, d12 HP, and a good Fortitude save, and all the maneuver fun. Jade Phoenix Mage might be a Prestige Class option for you.

 

[holyplankton]

I'm not really looking to make up the deficiencies, I'm looking to make a specific character. This campaign is much more based on story than combat. In the two months that I've been playing I've only had 1 major combat, and that was more or less given to me to see how my undead fared in combat.

If I make the Beguiler, like I said I want it to be a spy, a negotiator, possibly a thief. And when I say thief I mean precisely that. Not necessarily a Rogue, but a guy (or girl) who sneaks into people's homes at night and steals things.

 

[Empath Negative]

Kung Fu Genius Monk?

Kung Fu Genius lets a monk use his INT Mod any place he would use his WIS Mod for monk abilities.

Req: INT 13 and has to be take at or before the first monk level.


Urban Ranger or Cloistered Cleric of Olidimarra might also be a fascinating character.

 

[nonsi256]

I'm not really looking to make up the deficiencies, I'm looking to make a specific character. This campaign is much more based on story than combat. In the two months that I've been playing I've only had 1 major combat, and that was more or less given to me to see how my undead fared in combat.

If I make the Beguiler, like I said I want it to be a spy, a negotiator, possibly a thief. And when I say thief I mean precisely that. Not necessarily a Rogue, but a guy (or girl) who sneaks into people's homes at night and steals things.

As an infiltrator, the last thing you'd wanns worry about are resources.
Go Warlock at least up to 10th level, where you can get Fell Flight, Flee the Scene, Walk Unseen. You could also enjoy the benefits of Devil's sight & Entropic Warding (just retrain Spiderwalf once you get Fell Flight).
As a by-product of the above, you get Deceive Item (that's UMD galore). If you push it 2 levels further, you'd get Imbue Item - from there, the world is your oyster. Those extra 2 levels would also grant you Chilling Tentacles & Devour Magic, which are great for quick getaways, overcoming magical impediments & restoring health a bit.
Definitely not combat-optimized, but as long as you don't run into A-M too often, you're golden. You'll gust have to find some way of dealing with conditions. Restoration/Heal/Break Enchantment items would do wonders on that aspect, but if you get yourself killed, you won't be able to amend that situation, so consider Leadership and a cleric cohort.


Regarding skills - don't even consider the rogue. Being Int-based you'll have more skill points than you'll need anyway.
And as far as bards go - drop that notion too. Bards are mainly for buffs/debuffs, and's you're already one heck of a face.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Mix in some Lurk- essentially an Int-driven Psionic thief from CompPsi.

 

[Empath Negative]

If he goes Lock he should definitely get Craft Wondrous Item and just craft a pouch of baubles that cure poison 3/day, cast restoration 3/day, or... if he's smart... cast Summon Monster... and use the ridiculous versatility of that ability to summon creatures that can help him overcome certain challenges.

 

[holyplankton]

Psionics are not allowed for this campaign, so Lurk is out. Is Lock a misspelling, or is that just a class I've never heard of?

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Warlock might be alright-- it's one of my 'go-to' recommendations for Gestalt.

But for an infiltrator type, across Beguiler? Swashbuckler 3/Monk 2. If you have access to Dragon, or the Dragon Magazine Compendium, Kung Fu Genius-- otherwise, Ascetic Mage. Even trickier, if you can take a Rokugan ancestor feat from Dragon #318, Keen Intellect will allow you to apply your INT mod instead of your WIS mod to most WIS skills and your Will save.

If you have access to Tome of Battle, Superior Unarmed Strike. You're not a combat dynamo by any means, but you're an effective enough combatant even when carrying a weapon would be inconvenient.

Then, if at all possible go into Factotum//Rainbow Servant. Take Beguiler levels when RS doesn't grant casting, and Factotum when it does. (By RAW you don't need to do this because text trumps table, but I've never seen a DM allow it.) After Factotum 3, this means that you've effectively got everything running off of either Dexterity, Intelligence, or Charisma.

Less cheese, or if you want more versatile spellcasting, try Eidetic Wizard. You trade your familiar and your 1st level Wizard bonus feat for the ability to keep your entire spellbook between your ears. Replace Rainbow Servant with Wyrm Wizard.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Mix in some Battle Sorcerer so you can take one of the Heritage feats (Draconic, Celestial or Infernal) allowing you to convert arcane spell slots into Spell-like AoE attacks, letting you diversify your spells without sacrificing the ability to deal damage if you have to.