Domain/Spell Choices for a Sharn (FR, not Eberron)

[saucercrab]

Hi, I have the opportunity to play a sharn (Monsters of Faerun) in a non-good City of the Spider Queen campaign. The character will be aiming for the mystic theurge PrC [the only thing needed will be the Knowledge (religion) 6 ranks, but see below].

For those who don't know or have access to the sharn stats, it is a 4HD (with +5 level adjustment for 9 ECL total) aberration with the spellcasting of a 7th level sorcerer & 5th level cleric (& its spells do not need material components or focuses). On top of that, it has access to 4 domains; allowable choices are Chaos, Death, Knowledge, Luck, Magic, Protection, Travel & Trickery.

I've found a couple threads here & on the Wizards boards on sorcerer spell choices, but I didn't find much when it comes to multiclass sorcerer/another-spellcaster-class choices. I'm finding it hard to choose sorcerer spells based on what Domains I'll choose & what other cleric spells the character will have access to.

For Domains, I'm leaning towards Magic (a given, as it opens up the sorcerer's limited magic item use), Luck, Travel & Trickery. Other than Magic, I'm not sure these are the best. I'm leaning away from Knowledge, as I'm pretty sure my DM will let me choose Education as the character's 1st level/regional feat [& therefore will have Knowledge (religion) 6 ranks & be able to enter MT at 10th ECL]; while sharns don't have an FR region of origin per se, from the few sources I've read on them, knowledge is power when it comes to the political argument & social intrigue that they grow up in.

So, any recommendations?

 

[Jack Simth]

Well, with the cleric list available, you will have most of your buff and utility spells available; have the sorcerous section use the spells you will likely use a lot, or that aren't available to the cleric side - damage spells, fly, see invisibility and the like; I'd probably want to include Rope Trick or some such, as well, just to get a reasonably safe resting point pretty much anywhere at pretty much any time.

Also, read the description of Tiny Hut carefully - it lets all non-weather stuff through, is opaque from the outside, and is transparent from the inside - total concealment for the whole party with a single standard action!

 

[saucercrab]

Thanks, I was thinking of direct damage spells & non-divine defensive spells (invisibility, blink, etc.).

Won't need fly, though. Sharns have 40' (perfect) fly speed.

Other special abilities I hadn't mentioned that affect spell selection are as follows: They have DR 10/cold iron & regeneration 2 (lawful). They can perform one full attack action & one standard action per round (two spells per round, yes, but has to be one arcane & one divine). They can open three hex portals (small ethereal windows) that they can attack & cast spells through, & that can be moved around up to 100' away (I think that means one sharn can flank an opponent by itself). And nine claws & three bites per full attack action... I was contemplating going for a melee-focused sorcerer.

So far I was going to go for this at 10th ECL (8th level sorcerer):
1st = shield, magic missile, true strike, kauper's skittish nerves (FR spell that grants +5 to initiative) & something else;
2nd = blur, see invisibility & scorching ray;
3rd = dispel magic, lightning bolt;
4th = invisibility, greater;

 

[Jack Simth]

Check with your DM; Mystic Theurge specifies that you advance spellcasting as though you had gained a level in two spellcasting classes. It's possible he may rule that it doesn't advance you in your racial spellcasting ... in which case your plan (as it stands) is pretty much sunk.

The creature seems a bit strong, though; compare to a human trying the same thing with classes:
Sor 4/Clr 3/Mystic Theurge 2 (for CL 9)
Casts as a Sorceror 6, Cleric 5; one Sorceror level behind the Sharn. And it only gets two domains. The human doesn't fly without dispellable magic. The human still needs material components and focuses. The human can only cast one spell per round. The human doesn't get darkvision 60.

Of course, the Human also has better BAB (Sharn is abberation, and so has 3/4th's BAB - +3, for the 4 HD, while Sorceror and MT levels get 1/2 bab, and the Cleric levels get 3/4th's bab, so the Human has a BAB of +5), more Hit Dice (4d4+3d8+2d4), probably also more hit points (depending primarily on just how big the Con score of a Sharn gets), and probably better saves (abberations get good will saves only; over 4 HD, that's +4; Sorceror's get good Will saves - +4 right there for 4 levels of Sorceror; Clerics do as well (another +3) as does the MT (another +3) for a will save of +10 before other modifiers).

Hmm.....

 

[saucercrab]

My DM isn't a problem. Combining a sharn with MT is cool with him.

And yes, a sharn is very strong. Other party members will include a barbed devil (12 HD, with a house-ruled +6 LA), zarathrune rakshasa (from MM III, an assassin-type, not sorcerer-type with 11 HD & +5 LA) & a gloura/bard (a gloura is a subterranean 7 HD & +2 LA fey from Underdark); Savage Species-style progressions will be used for those characters that haven't matured by 10th level (the starting level for the adventure). We haven't had a game like this in a while, so we're gonna' cut loose a bit & just have fun. And yes, it will be half the fun just to ge along.

BTW, these are the sharn's ability mod's: +8 Str, +10 Dex, +10 Con, +8 Int, +8 Wis & +10 Cha. Diesel.