Items for the melee mage...

[WinnipegDragon]

Interesting plot twist in my game last week. My L3 Transmuter was afflicted with Lycanthropy by a Werewolf, and I am considering keeping the curse and playing it out since the afflicted form is 'hybrid'. The DM didn't plan this, but the way our party organized and dealt with this threat, my Transmuter just happened to be in the right spot at the right time and was the biggest threat to the werewolf (thank you Belker's Claws) to get the bite.

The character is CN, and the party is very much okay with that sort of alignment. We are basically mercenaries, and we look out for #1, so a little CE twist is not likely to break up the party chemistry.

As I understand it, hybrid form lycanthropes can still cast, and Transmuters are well equipped to work with touch spells, body modifications for melee and other in-close death dealing. I'm thinking that this character is actually very viable, although I would have been downright giddy if it was a werebear or weretiger bite.

My DM allowed me to take the +2 ECL right away to be offset by a lack of class progression until I hit character level 6. I've dumped as many points into the 'control shape' skill and I'll take skill focus for my next feat so that I have a decent chance of controlling this during combat.

We are also at a point where we have downtime and coin to craft and purchase gear. This character has exactly one magic/masterwork item - a wand of Mage Armour - and nothing else, so I am starting from scratch. I can look at items up to about 7,000gp...

I've considered the AC boosters:

• Amulet of Natural Armour
• Ring of Protection
• Bracers of Armour

But I'm still going to need some assistance landing and hitting melee blows to take advantage of my touch spells. So perhaps an amulet of mighty fists, gauntlets of strenght or the like, or perhaps something that would increase the damage from my natural attacks which are 1d4 claws, 1d6 bite right now. Are there any items that would also emulate the Multiattack feat?

Outside that, I'm not quite sure where to go with this character. Any ideas or comments?

 

[Jack Simth]

Well, couple of things...

First off, you just picked up +2 LA and 2 racial HD. As you were 3rd level before, you're now ECL 7; you won't be gaining anything above and beyond what you already have until you hit character level 8. As a primary caster, this bites (although if you move away from being a primary caster, you'll be okay).

On the plus side, you'll get a feat when you finally level (feats are based on hit dice, not effective character level) and you're going to be ahead of the party for a while.

You've already hit the highlights of the items you want - Amulet of Mighty Fists? Goes well with the natural attacks. Likewise, bracers of armor. Really, though, you've just gone from being a primary caster to being a reasonable thug, all in one go. Have fun.

 

[blargney the second]

Personally, I'd toss a +1 mithral twilight chain shirt on him, rather than the bracers. You're going to be seriously hurting for hp, so an Amulet of Health would not be remiss either...

 

[WinnipegDragon]

I think the DM is taking mercy on me by not counting the racial HD against my ECL. I doubt the same would have happened for a non-primary caster, but he realizes the limitations that this character is now facing. So, at L6 I can take another Transmuter level.

What book is 'twilight' from? I was looking for a very cost-effective armour option that would not give more than, say, a 10% arcane failure rate. Would this fit the bill?

 

[WinnipegDragon]

Oops, just found it in PH2. Thanks, looks helpful!

 

[blargney the second]

Twilight's in MIC as well (love that book!). If memory serves, it's a +1 enhancement that reduces ASF by 10%.

 

[nittanytbone]

What are your barred schools as a specialist wizard?

Current ability scores/feats/wealth at hand would be helpful as well.

The other composition of your party is also handy -- what role will you be filling?

Thanks!

 

[WinnipegDragon]

Barred schools are Illusion and Necromancy.

Ability scores are:
STR 10/CON 10/DEX 14/INT 16/WIS 12/ CHR 10

When in hybrid form that will be:
STR 12/CON 14/DEX 18/INT 16/WIS 12/ CHR 10

I was planning a more traditional caster, so I have Spellcasting Prodigy, Spell Focus: Transmutation and Combat Casting as feats.

Wealth is a bit in flux right now, and my DM is just giving us a guideline of 'items less than 7k GP' for right now.

The remainder of the party is:

Fighter - Mobile dual-weapon type
Dragon Shaman - Tank and front-line fighter
Warlock - Artillery
Cleric - Healing battery and AC machine

I can be flexible with my role.

 

[nittanytbone]

Here's a few things to Consider.

Your Party Roles:

Tanks - TWF Fighter, Dragon Shaman, Cleric
Ranged Direct Damage (Artillery) - Warlock
Face - Warlock or Cleric (I Hope!)
Trap Monkey - Nonexistent
Full Spellcaster: Cleric

Where do you fit into the party role?

With +2 LA, you will NOT be a primary spellcaster. You will also not be a tank, not with +2 LA and 3 wizard levels. Your party, right now, is missing a skilled trapmonkey type character.

What I would suggest, is begging your DM to let you convert over to a Beguiler, or letting you convert one of your Wizard levels to Rogue levels (your first one, so you can get decent skill points). A beguiler lets you stay true to the flavor of the wizard while filling an important party niche. A rogue level would give you the trapfinding ability and skill points. Luckily, skills are one thing htat are easy to boost even with a LA.

Also, I would begin retraining feats.

Spellcasting Prodigy -- You'll have to hit Wizard level 10 before you get a bonus spell out of this feat (assuming you pump your stat boosts into INT). That's like ECL 12 for you. Useless. Ditch it ASAP. Even a useless skill boosting feat or Toughness would be better than this. Even if it has been house ruled to also boost save DCs, its not worth it. Transmutation doesn't have many spells with saves, as you're focused on buffs, and with your LA you should steer clear of direct attack spells.

Combat Casting -- Inferior 99% of the time to Skill Focus (COncentration). Also, you should be focusing on buffs, which means you're often casting out of melee range.

SF Transmutation -- See above note about spells that offer saves. Unless you plan on Master Specialist levels, ditch it.

I would aim to retrain for: Weapon Finesse, TWF, and Improved Toughness OR PBS, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot. Both synergize nicely with your boosts to stats in hybrid form, and they'd work nicely with a rogue level.

I'd use the rogue level for SP and the wizard levels for spells, focusing on utility magic and battlefield control. Stuff like Grease, Mage Armor, Alter Self, that sort of thing. Steer clear of things that offer saves, and start pumping DEX/CON. Practiced Spellcaster might help you out a lot in this case with the racial HD!

In short, a visit to PHB2's retraining/rebuilding chapter seems to be in order.

 

[avr]

I'd second the +1 twilight mithral chain shirt. You may want to add Shadow or Silent moves to it also. As far as the party role goes, you're looking at being either the 4th frontliner in a group of 5 or shifting sideways into being the stealth/ambush guy - your wizard can do the latter fairly well even without the skills, with alter self and knock for stealth/movement purposes and any number of things as the punch of the ambush.