To make a wiz..

[Magus_Jerel]

oh yeah - something uber bad and broken about 1st level wiz characters with an int of 20 -

you get TWO bonus spells for your geinus - instead of just one - a very SWEEEEET thing; making you a practical prodigy anyway.

Spellcasting Prodigy is ok - but not necessarily worth the feat slot - especially in light of Mind over body and the fact that the elf has the +2 int as a race feature instead of expending that precious 1st level feat slot.

If you get the int of 20 - you have 9hp playing a wizard at 1st level. There is a good chance you might have more Hp than the party rogue, and could compete with the cleric for HP totals at mid levels. If you truly DUMP all possible points into INT - the effect of this feat is magnified several times over.

Int 18 (you got lucky) +2 race +5 advancement +6 magic item +5 inherent = 36 int score ...

That is a theoretical +13 int bonus, which translates to +13 hp PER LEVEL. If you do it right, you can have more HP than the fighter - but are subject to an achilles heel;

Feeblemind.

This Spell BITES for your character - learn to hate it.

*starts to cast brainwashing magic*
Thou shalt hate the feeblemind spell
Thou shalt hate the feeblemind spell

 

[RogueJK]

I think something that some of you are overlooking here is that Mind over Body lets you use your Intelligence modifier to determine bonus Hit Points at first level only.

Every level after that, you still use your Constitution to determine bonus HPs. Even if you raise your Intelligence, it would only apply to your first level's HPs. So that 36 Int would only net you +13 HPs. Period. Not +13 at each level. All of the other levels besides 1st are using your Con mod.

And, just to clarify, the HPs from taking metamagic feats are added to your HP total, not to each Hit Dice.

For example, a 3rd level Elf Wizard takes Extend Spell, after having taken Mind over Body at 1st level. He would have 1d4+(int mod)+1d4+(Con mod)+1d4+(Con mod)+1 (from taking Extend Spell) HPs.

This feat isn't as wonderful as you are making it out to be. And it certainly doesn't remove the need for a good Constitution score. It's really only useful to give you a good boost to your 1st level HPs. The extra Hit Point for each metamagic feat is nice, but it won't matter much in the long run.

[Edit] Just to remove any remaining doubt from your mind, I'll point you towards the FRCS errata, where it states:
"p. 37, Mind Over Body:
Benefit: Add after 1st sentence: “(For all ensuing levels, you revert to your Constitution modifier.)”" [/Edit]

 

[Omegium]

For a real battle mage? Be a sorcerer. If you are only going for the mass damage spells you can do with a limited spell knowledge: the amount of times you can cast them is much more important

 

[green slime]

Diviners are excellent specialists. Take Necromancy as your opposed school. You'll never miss it. The extra spell slots from Divination are VERY utility (Detect x, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Scry)

Spellcasting Prodigy is something of a must have.
Mind over Body isn't that good, as RogueJK pointed out.

Extend Spell and Persistent Spell are very good.

You want a decent Con, prefereably 14 or more. Dex isn't so important.

If you are a human and playing in the realms, I like Aglarond, for the feats Discipline and Luck of Heroes.

Discipline grants you +2 to your Concentration checks, and +1 to your will saves.

Never bother with Combat Casting, Skill focus (Concentration) is better, as it aplies to all Concentration checks. But Discipline is even better.

 

[Magus_Jerel]

I think something that some of you are overlooking here is that Mind over Body lets you use your Intelligence modifier to determine bonus Hit Points at first level only.

I was NOT aware of the errata on this that you pointed out, as I only read a first printing copy of FRCS. That does have the effect of changing the entire ballgame when it comes to that feat, and putting a nice big smackdown on its abuseabiliy in that regard. The errata just rendered that feat a super toughness - without the benefit of the PrC potential to follow.

What I would do - in light of the errata, is go ahead and play the elf, but take a toad familar to negate the con penalty. If you need an "airborne ally" - Polymorph other your familar.

The spell selection part of the post still stands.


Omegium - He is going battle/utility - a dual role wizard.
As far Sor vs Wiz -
I have found VERY few Sorcerers survive going from 1st to 20th level. Sorcerers also face numerous weaknesses that wizards don't.

1. Globes of Invulnerability - which mean the Sor better have dispel magic - or at least the heighten spell feat.

2. One spell level behind the wizard - which means that the wizard's best spell is going to be over your capacities.

3. Limited Skill list. Remember - all knowledge skills are NOT class skills for you - just knowledge arcana.

4. PrC issues. A lot of the PrC's arcane magic users require ranks in knowledge skills other than arcana - which hurts the Sor

5. Vs the specialist Evoker who drops conjuration/summoning - you have very little in the way of a firepower advantage, and a HUGE loss when it comes to utility.

6. The myth that the sor has more spells than the wiz, particularly the specialist wiz is just that - myth. you may have one extra "slot" to cast - but that wizard has got you when it comes to variety in a major way. Given that he gets his higher level spells earlier - you actually TRAIL the specalist wizard in sheer spell slots until around sixth to seventh level.

7. The Wizard is almost sure to have punched up His intelligence score - and gets a bit more out of it - than you do pumping charisma - namely skill points.

The class is much better when multi classed - or the player has a very specific PrC in mind.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The best schools to throw out of the window are enchantments and illusions. Specialisation in Transmutation is a good idea, but if you don`t want to miss spells like Improved Invisibilty (be the rogues best friend ), than something like Diviniation can be much better.
I would not recommend to lose necromancy - spells like Vampire`s Touch, Spectral Hand or Enervation are good spells...

Remember, since you have to prepare a spell of your specialisied school, it might be wise to have Diviniation - Too often you will forget to prepare a See Invisibilty spell...

For Feats: Craft Wands is very important for wizards - you don`t cast to many spells per day. You can work together with the Cleric to produce healing wands...
The least useful Craft Feats are Craft Staffs and Craft Rods, at least if you are only allowed to craft the DMG Staffs and Rods...

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Skaros]

Since it appears you are in the Forgotten Realms, I'll give you my arcane caster concept I'm considering for the next campaign we start.

His progression is more driven by his personality than anything else:

male human Rashemi wizard (neutral or neutral good)

Left Rasheman to avoid spending his days doing work at the bidding of the Witches who control the magic in Rasheman. He intends to master his craft, and someday return when he is powerful enough to carve his own nitch in society there.

High stat: INT Next highest: CON
Feat progression:
lvl 1 (wiz 1): spell mastery, iron will
lvl 3 (wiz 3): signature spell (magic missile or flame bolt)
lvl 5 (wiz 5): spell mastery
lvl 6 (wiz5/incantatrix 1): extend spell, signature spell (lightning bolt)
lvl 9 (wiz5/inc 4): energy substitution or empower spell or quicken

After lvl 6 his progression is more open. I tend to let how the campaign plays out influence feat progression beyond this point. Once he's qualified for incantatrix, he has a lot of flexibility. He could even move into a more elemental study path and take elemental savant later without too much trouble.

The spell mastery and signature spells grant him a lot of flexibility in that he doesn' thave to memorize as many combat spells, allowing him to take advantage of the wider array of spells wizard typcially have over sorcerers. It also represents his own personal goal to master his craft.

He isn't a prodigy, but attains his knowledge through dedication and hard work, and could easily shift to a more orderly, lawful alignment over time.

I think there are a lot of ways to make an effective battle mage. This concept ends up being a decent one. He is flexible, can convert equivalent or higher lvl spells into magic missiles or bolts at will, and later can take quicken spell for more oomph.

regards,
Skaros