playing a spellcaster

[johnnygolastly]

unfortuantely, i have never played a wizard/sorcerer before, ever......EVER.

and it hurts, so for a new 4th level game at gencon uk, i am playing a wizard. now, since i dont know much, i was wondering if people could give me some tips or hints, tricks of the trade, you know the stuff.

what race is best?
wizard or sorcerer?
if wizard, which speciality or none?
which feats are best, which should i ignore?
skills, i suppose i would like concentration and spellcraft.
equipment?
multi-class? none?
importantly, which spells would i choose?

the game is 4th level 28 point buy with one attribute increase for 4th level. only phb to be used, 5, 400 gp to spend, only 2, 700 gp on any one item.

 

[Tsyr]

unfortuantely, i have never played a wizard/sorcerer before, ever......EVER.

and it hurts, so for a new 4th level game at gencon uk, i am playing a wizard. now, since i dont know much, i was wondering if people could give me some tips or hints, tricks of the trade, you know the stuff.

what race is best?
wizard or sorcerer?
if wizard, which speciality or none?
which feats are best, which should i ignore?
skills, i suppose i would like concentration and spellcraft.
equipment?
multi-class? none?
importantly, which spells would i choose?

the game is 4th level 28 point buy with one attribute increase for 4th level. only phb to be used, 5, 400 gp to spend, only 2, 700 gp on any one item.

I assume you are talking core only.

I generaly prefer humans, for starters... the bonus feat and skills are nice. A race with a con bonus is nice too, never underestimate hitpoints for a wizard. Generaly, I make my highest stat my prime casting stat, and my next highest con. With a 16 con, for example, your wizard has probably on average twice the hit points of a frail wizard.

I prefer wizards; but for a short game, I'd probably go sorc... I like wizards because over time I can amass a HUGE library of spells, wheras a sorc cannot... but for short games, a sorcs higher amount of spells-per-day is nice.

As a wizard I rarely spec, but again, that's because I prefer versitility... if your going for a short game, specing in Evocation might go a ways towards making up for the lack of spells-per-day as a sorc.

As far as feats, I like energy substitution, but they probably won't allow that one...

Get a familiar if you can... a toad is my choice for pure stat reasons, though I prefer birds myself (Roleplaying thing).

I would suggest not multi-classing.

 

[Kershek]

Here is what I came up with. I don't expect you to use this without modification, of course. I made him a 1-off min-maxed sorcerer without going overboard with stats at 8. Since he's a 1-off and unlikely to make items, I gave him feats to help with his ranged attacks, including crossbow and rays. Glitterdust may seem to be a suspect 2nd level spell, but I've personally found it to be a life-saver. Comments are welcome!

Steven, M Human Sorcerer4 CR 4; Size:M Type Humanoid; HD (4d4)+8; hp 21; Init +3 (+3 Dex, +0 Misc); Spd Walk 30'; AC 13 (flatfooted 10, touch 13), *Crossbow (Light/Masterwork) +7 80'/P (1d8 19-20/x2 Neither S ) or *Dagger +2 0'/P (1d4 19-20/x2 Neither T ) or *Dagger (Thrown) +5 10'/P (1d4 19-20/x2 Neither T ) or ; SA: Summon Familiar; Vision: Normal AL: NG; Sv: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +5; Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 16

Skills and Feats: Concentration +5, Knowledge (Arcana) +7, Listen +2, Spellcraft +7, Spot +2; Alertness,Point Blank Shot,Precise Shot,Simple Weapon Proficiency,Weapon Focus (Crossbow (Light))

Possessions: 1 Necklace of Fireballs I, 0 Outfit (Traveler's), 2 Potion (Cure Light Wounds), 1 Potion (Expedious Retreat), 1 Potion (Haste), 1 Crossbow (Light/Masterwork), 1 Dagger, 20 Arrow (Masterwork), 1 Familiar (Toad), 1 Acid (Flask), 1 Alchemist's Fire (Flask), 1 Holy Water (Flask), 2 Sunrod, 1 Tanglefoot Bag, 1 Scroll (Knock), 1 Scroll (Protection from Evil), 1 Scroll (Lesser Restoration), 2 Scroll (Ray of Enfeeblement), 2 Scroll (Shield), 1 Scroll (Summon Monster II), 1 Scroll (Web), 1 Scroll (Blur), 1 Scroll (Color Spray), 1 Scroll (Darkvision), 1 Cloak of Resistance +1, 110 Coin (Gold), 40 Coin (Silver),

Spells: Sorcerer: (6 /7 /4 ) 0-Daze, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Light, Ray of Frost, Read Magic 1-Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Sleep 2-Glitterdust

 

[Tsyr]

I'd probably drop sleep for True Strike, myself... makes you do a little bit of damage even if your fighting something your spells don't work on for some reason. But I guess thats more of a long-term thing anyhow... what he has is probably good.

I might suggest a summon monster spell, though...

 

[LokiDR]

For a first timer, I would say sorcerer, just so you don't have to bother with preping spells and you have a smaller list of spells to remember effects for.

Race for a sorcerer, I would say human, just for simplicity. Any race could work. Even a kobald can be fun to play, but not in an offical event.

Feats are a bit hard for a sor, since you are too low for metamagic to really help and item creation is more for the long term. Improve initative is nice. From there, it depends more on concept. Weapon focus ray or energy missle work if you like those spells. Don't underestimate toughness, as those couple extra hp come in real handy at low levels.

Magic items are pretty well explained in Tome & Blood. If you don't have the book, it more or less says try to get at least a low level defensive item of every type. Ring of protection, cloak of resistance, bracers of armor, amulet of natural armor, ect.

Spells are a tough issue for sorcerer, because you get so few. Tome & Blood can help here too. Since you can only get 1st and 2nd level spells, think carfully. try http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21502 for what others say about specific spells. Since you can cast a lot, thing about spells that you can use multiple times, like magic missile.

Skills are not very important to you. You have a bad selection and not many points. You probably won't much of an int bonus, so that doesn't help. Concentration, spellcraft, and knowlege arcana are the best choices. Alchemy can be usefull in the long run, but not at higher levels. You may consider cross class skills like spot, listen and sense motive since they have a tendancy to come up a lot. Especially spot.

I won't build a character for you, since that is a good way to learn the classes. If you don't feal like going through the work, Kershek made a decent sorrcerer, though I would go with shield over sleep. Sleep just doesn't work at higher levels, so you would be stuck with it. Of course, you might not even care about that.

I hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Kershek]

I won't build a character for you, since that is a good way to learn the classes. If you don't feal like going through the work, Kershek made a decent sorrcerer, though I would go with shield over sleep. Sleep just doesn't work at higher levels, so you would be stuck with it. Of course, you might not even care about that.

One thing I want to mention is that, for a 1-off, you can really get away with several scrolls to replace a spell slot. For instance, if you don't think you'll need sleep as much, pick up 2 or 3 scrolls of it and take Shield as a spell slot instead. I picked Sleep because you won't have to worry about it working at higher levels. In fact, you could probably buy a few mage armor scrolls and pick a different 1st level spell like Grease.

Also, I made a mistake in picking a scroll with Lesser Restoration, which is a divine spell. Swap it with another 2nd level spell instead (Melf's Acid Arrow would be a good choice. Hell, get a few of those). For the main battle, if there are a lot of little bad guys, drinking that haste potion and then following up with multiple sleeps could make the battle much easier. If it's a larger baddie, drink haste, cast glitterdust, and pump him with all the Magic Missiles you have. Or use up all three of your necklace of fireballs in two rounds and then go to magic missile. After that, if he's still not dead, you crossbow at +8 to hit will do some good damage.

You may also want to consider buying a couple of 3rd level scrolls with the risk of a 10% spell failure for being too low a level. hold Person, Displacement, Flame Arrow, Dispel Magic, Slow, Lightning bolt, and Magic Circle against Evil are some excellent choices.

 

[Hennet]

It's not all about you...

When we were in Nemoren's Vault (everyone third level) my scrolls of Cat's Grace & Bull's Strength were very helpful. You can spend most of your time casting Magic Missle and Sleep but the buff's for the party fighter and rogue can be very helpful. Don't forget to use MW X-bow and bolts, they can give you a decent ranged attack since you'll probably have a good dex anyway. Don't be afraid to spend your energy supporting the team if that is more productive.

Personally, I'd favor Web over Glitterdust but that depends on the situation i.e. who else is with you and who you will most likely be fighting.

 

[Creamsteak]

Off hand, if your aiming for different strategy, take improved unarmed strike.

You can add shocking grasp (i think...) or any touch attack to your fist damage. It's neat at low levels, but useless at high levels.

Of course, starting a level 4, you could even take a level in monk for evasion, and the 1d6 fist damage.

Then again, if you really want to play the usual wizard, try and use some of the strategies the others have presented. I'm good with quarked and strange characters, but these people do know how to build the truely amazing traditional characters.