Equipping a high level Spellcaster

[Cheiromancer]

If you've been over in House Rules lately you might have noticed the EPIC MAGIC thread. We need to have some benchmark spellcasters to balance a new spellcasting system against (it is based on the ELH). These iterations of "Matt the Metamagic Specialist" might not be optimized- I would like folks to see if equipment choices could be made more wisely.

We're not using the official wealth guidelines; the wealth is given in each stat block. A few of the feats are non-standard; MF is Metamagic Freedom, and allows a spellcaster to modify a spell multiple times with the same feat; double Empowered fireballs and the like. AMC is Automatic Metamagic Capacity, and allows 1 level of metamagic to be added spontaneously, at the time of casting, to any spell cast. These feats replace a lot of epic feats, such as the Automatic Suite, Improved Heighten, Improved Metamagic and Improved Spell Capacity.

Anyway, this isn't about feat choices, but equipment choices. How to make good choices while staying more or less within the following limits:

Items should be from the SRD only, and include 1 item worth up 25% of the character's total wealth and 3 items at up 10% of total wealth, with the rest of the equipment weighing at no more than 5% total wealth each. The exact values are not terribly important (28% is fine for one item, say, and the top four items could add up to 60% if it made sense). And if having three items worth between 10% and 25% of the total wealth opens up exciting new possibilities, please suggest them.

Most of the equipment lists are very similar. Your advice could be as simple as "ditch the ring of wizardry and use pearls of power instead". Or it could be as detailed as you like.

Quote: Originally posted by Sepulchrave II

Here's my proposed Matt. He's somewhat optimized for his niche, but uses core feats only. The Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats are included, but the school is not specified. I assume a Human Wizard (Generalist), 25-point buy: Str 8 Dex 12 Con 14 Int 15 Wis 13 Cha 10; Int increases at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20. I also assume that Matt has wisely invested in a +5 tome, and has an inherent bonus to his Intelligence. I've tried to keep his magic items as vanilla as possible. Matt has no familiar.

I figured that Matt would see a lot of combat - flinging those fireballs, and all - so I gave him Combat Casting. Either that, or Improved Initiative.

He's at lvl 20 right now; I'll add versions at 3-level intervals to this post as time permits. Subsequent wealth will assume UK's lvl^3*100 formula; at present, he's by the book.

Matt the Metamagic Specialist (lvl 20)
Human Wizard (Generalist) 20; medium humanoid; HD 20d4+100; hp 152; Init +4; Spd 40 ft.; AC 29 (touch 21, flat-footed 25); Base Atk +10; Grp +9; Atk +11 (1d4-1/19-20, MW dagger); SA spells; SQ spells; SV Fort +17 Ref +16 Will +19; Str 8 Dex 18 Con 20 Int 31 Wis 13 Cha 10.

Skills: Concentration +29, Knowledge (arcana) +34, Spellcraft +36, others that don't concern us.

Feats: Scribe scroll (B, 1st), Combat Casting (B, human, 1st), Spell Focus (1st), Heighten Spell (3rd), Enlarge Spell (B, 5th), Greater Spell Focus (6th), Empower Spell (9th), Extend Spell (B, 10th), Maximize Spell (12th), Quicken Spell (15th), Widen Spell (B, 15th), Still Spell (18th), Silent Spell (B, 20th).

Spell Save DC: 20 + Spell Level (+2 GSF)

Wealth (lvl 20) 760,000 gp:

[Tome of clear thought +5 (137,500)]
Headband of intellect +6 (36,000)
Bracers of armor +8 (64,000)
Amulet of health +6 (36,000)
Gloves of dexterity +6 (36,000)
Cloak of resistance +5 (25,000)
Boots of Striding and Springing (5500)
Boccob's blessed book (12,500)
Heward's handy haversack (2000)
Ring of protection +5 (50,000)
Ring of wizardry IV (100,000)
Goggles of night (12,000)
Greater rod of maximization (121,500)
Dusty rose ioun stone (5000)
Pale green ioun stone (30,000)
Orange ioun stone (30,000)

Which leaves Matt 58,000 gp, to spend on scrolls, potions etc.


**

Matt the Metamagic Specialist (lvl 21)
Human Wizard (Generalist) 21; medium humanoid; HD 21d4+105; hp 159; Init +4; Spd 40 ft.; AC 29 (touch 21, flat-footed 25); Base Atk +11; Grp +10; Atk +12 (1d4-1/19-20, MW dagger); SA spells; SQ spells; SV Fort +17 Ref +16 Will +19; Str 8 Dex 18 Con 20 Int 31 Wis 13 Cha 10.

Skills: Concentration +30, Knowledge (arcana) +35, Spellcraft +39, others that don't concern us.

Feats: Scribe scroll (B, 1st), Combat Casting (B, human, 1st), Spell Focus (1st), Heighten Spell (3rd), Enlarge Spell (B, 5th), Greater Spell Focus (6th), Empower Spell (9th), Extend Spell (B, 10th), Maximize Spell (12th), Quicken Spell (15th), Widen Spell (B, 15th), Still Spell (18th), Silent Spell (B, 20th).

Epic Feats: Automatic Metamagic Capacity (21st)

Spell Save DC: 20 + Spell Level (+2 GSF)

Spells per Day: 4/7/7/6/10/6/6/5/5/5

Wealth (lvl 21) 926,100 gp:

[Tome of clear thought +5 (137,500)]
Headband of intellect +6 (36,000)
Bracers of armor +8 (64,000)
Amulet of health +6 (36,000)
Gloves of dexterity +6 (36,000)
Cloak of resistance +5 (25,000)
Boots of Striding and Springing (5500)
Boccob's blessed book (12,500)
Heward's handy haversack (2000)
Ring of protection +5 (50,000)
Ring of wizardry IV (100,000)
Goggles of night (12,000)
Greater rod of maximization (121,500)
Dusty rose ioun stone (5000)
Pale green ioun stone (30,000)
Orange ioun stone (30,000)


He's got 224,100 gp left. He's saving up.


**

Matt (lvl 24)
Human Wizard (Generalist) 24; medium humanoid; HD 24d4+120; hp 182; Init +4; Spd 40 ft.; AC 29 (touch 21, flat-footed 25); Base Atk +12; Grp +11; Atk +13 (1d4-1/19-20, MW dagger); SA spells; SQ spells; SV Fort +19 Ref +18 Will +21; Str 8 Dex 18 Con 20 Int 32 Wis 13 Cha 10.

Skills: Concentration +33, Knowledge (arcana) +38, Spellcraft +42, others that don't concern us.

Feats: Scribe scroll (B, 1st), Combat Casting (B, human, 1st), Spell Focus (1st), Heighten Spell (3rd), Enlarge Spell (B, 5th), Greater Spell Focus (6th), Empower Spell (9th), Extend Spell (B, 10th), Maximize Spell (12th), Quicken Spell (15th), Widen Spell (B, 15th), Still Spell (18th), Silent Spell (B, 20th).

Epic Feats: AMC (21st), AMC (23rd), AMC (24th)

Spell Save DC: 21 + Spell Level (+2 GSF)

Spells per Day: 4/7/7/7/10/6/6/6/5/5

Wealth (lvl 24) 1,382,400 gp:

[Tome of clear thought +5 (137,500)]
Headband of intellect +6 (36,000)
Bracers of armor +8 (64,000)
Amulet of health +6 (36,000)
Gloves of dexterity +6 (36,000)
Cloak of resistance +5 (25,000)
Boots of Striding and Springing (5500)
Boccob's blessed book (12,500)
Heward's handy haversack (2000)
Ring of protection +5 (50,000)
Ring of wizardry IV (100,000)
Goggles of night (12,000)
Greater rod of quickening (170,000)
Dusty rose ioun stone (5000)
Pale green ioun stone (30,000)
Orange ioun stone (30,000)


Matt's got a truckload of cash: 631,900 gp. He's traded in his maximizing rod for a quickening rod. He's unsure what else to buy, though - he can't find any single item worth more than 345,500.

He goes shopping. Maybe...

ring of epic wizardry V: may as well hold off until he can find a number VI, though.
boots of swiftness: he could change his boots and ditch his gloves
robe of eyes: his robe slot is free. He'd never be surprised.
robe of stars: that luck bonus is tempting
amulet of the planes: always handy.


**


Matt (lvl 27)
Human Wizard (Generalist) 27; medium humanoid; HD 27d4+135; hp 204; Init +4; Spd 40 ft.; AC 29 (touch 21, flat-footed 25); Base Atk +14; Grp +13; Atk +15 (1d4-1/19-20, MW dagger); SA spells; SQ spells; SV Fort +21 Ref +20 Will +23; Str 8 Dex 18 Con 20 Int 32 Wis 13 Cha 10.

Skills: Concentration +36, Knowledge (arcana) +42, Spellcraft +46, others that don't concern us.

Feats: Scribe scroll (B, 1st), Combat Casting (B, human, 1st), Spell Focus (1st), Heighten Spell (3rd), Enlarge Spell (B, 5th), Greater Spell Focus (6th), Empower Spell (9th), Extend Spell (B, 10th), Maximize Spell (12th), Quicken Spell (15th), Widen Spell (B, 15th), Still Spell (18th), Silent Spell (B, 20th).

Epic Feats: AMC (21st), AMC (23rd), AMC (24th), AMC (26th), MF (27th)

Spell Save DC: 21 + Spell Level (+2 GSF)

Spells per Day: 4/7/7/7/6/6/6/10/5/5

Wealth (lvl 27) 1,968,300 gp:

[Tome of clear thought +5 (137,500)]
Headband of intellect +6 (36,000)
Bracers of armor +8 (64,000)
Amulet of health +6 (36,000)
Cloak of resistance +5 (25,000)
Boots of springing and striding (5500)
Gloves of dexterity +6 (36,000)
Boccob's blessed book (12,500)
Heward's handy haversack (2000)
Ring of protection +5 (50,000)
Ring of wizardry VII (490,000)
Goggles of night (12,000)
Greater rod of quickening (170,000)
Dusty rose ioun stone (5000)
Pale green ioun stone (30,000)
Orange ioun stone (30,000)
Robe of stars (58,000)
Mirror of mental prowess (175,000)
Iron flask (170,000)

Matt's gone for a ring of wizardry VII, a mirror of mental prowess, an iron flask (because it's fun) and a robe of stars. I'll underline epic magic items. The ring is his #1 item; his rod, flask and mirror are probably #2 items. I guess the tome should probably be considered as such as well. He's got 403.8K left.


**


Matt (lvl 30)
Human Wizard (Generalist) 30; medium humanoid; HD 30d4+150; hp 226; Init +4; Spd 60 ft.; AC 29 (touch 21, flat-footed 25); Base Atk +15; Grp +14; Atk +16 (1d4-1/19-20, MW dagger); SA spells; SQ evasion, spells; SV Fort +23 Ref +22 Will +25; Str 8 Dex 18 Con 20 Int 35 Wis 13 Cha 10.

Skills: Concentration +39, Knowledge (arcana) +46, Spellcraft +50, Tumble +24, others that don't concern us.

Feats: Scribe scroll (B, 1st), Combat Casting (B, human, 1st), Spell Focus (1st), Heighten Spell (3rd), Enlarge Spell (B, 5th), Greater Spell Focus (6th), Empower Spell (9th), Extend Spell (B, 10th), Maximize Spell (12th), Quicken Spell (15th), Widen Spell (B, 15th), Still Spell (18th), Silent Spell (B, 20th).

Epic Feats: AMC (21st), AMC (23rd), AMC (24th), AMC (26th), MF (27th), AMC (29th), AMC (30th)

Spell Save DC: 22 + Spell Level (+2 GSF)

Spells per Day: 4/7/7/7/7/6/6/10/6/5

Wealth (lvl 27) 2,700,000 gp:

[Tome of clear thought +5 (137,500)]
Headband of intellect +8 (640,000) [#1]
Bracers of armor +8 (64,000)
Amulet of health +6 (36,000)
Cloak of resistance +5 (25,000)
Boots of Swiftness (256,000)
Boccob's blessed book (12,500)
Heward's handy haversack (2000)
Ring of protection +5 (50,000)
Ring of wizardry VII (490,000)
Goggles of night (12,000)
Greater rod of quickening (170,000)
Dusty rose ioun stone (5000)
Pale green ioun stone (30,000)
Orange ioun stone (30,000)
Robe of stars (58,000)
Mirror of mental prowess (175,000)
Iron flask (170,000)

Remaining: 337K

 

[Quartz]

Why the Tome of Clear Thought? Surely he's simply used his own Wishes? You should also give him Inherent Bonuses to other stats.

No item creation feats? No Epic spells?

Instead if his Ring of Wizardry 7, I'd give him a ring that gives him +1 spell of each level from 0 to 9.

And do give him a Staff of the Magi.

 

[Cedric]

When I get a chance I'll read this and try to give a worthwhile reply, but when I first saw the thread title, the first thing that popped into my mind was:

Equipping a high level Spellcqaster? I wonder what slot you'd equip him in? Does he have to be two size categories smaller than you?

 

[Cedric]

Why the Tome of Clear Thought? Surely he's simply used his own Wishes? You should also give him Inherent Bonuses to other stats.

That's 25,000xp for a +5 inherent bonus, all in one shot since you have to cast the Wish spells in succession.

Honestly, I think the money is easier to come by than the spare 25,000xp per +5 bonus.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Why the Tome of Clear Thought? Surely he's simply used his own Wishes? You should also give him Inherent Bonuses to other stats.

That might be a good idea, but it would put him about 5 levels behind the rest of the party if he boosted all his stats like that.

No item creation feats? No Epic spells?

We are in the process of tinkering with the Epic Spellcasting system, and so this is our standard of comparison. And he doesn't have any item creation feats at the moment; I suppose he might use limited wish to emulate psychic reformation (assuming psionics-magic transparency) and shuffle his feats around. (Assuming the DM would allow such cheese. As a standard action, no less. ) But right now he's a metamagic specialist.

Instead if his Ring of Wizardry 7, I'd give him a ring that gives him +1 spell of each level from 0 to 9.

And do give him a Staff of the Magi.

That ring would be much like multiple pearls of power, wouldn't it? I wonder what a fair gp value is for a staff of the magi.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Equipping a high level Spellcaster? I wonder what slot you'd equip him in? Does he have to be two size categories smaller than you?

I like the way you think! Perhaps an awakened construct in the form of a pointy hat?

 

[Quartz]

That might be a good idea, but it would put him about 5 levels behind the rest of the party if he boosted all his stats like that.

Due to the way XP works in D20 he wouldn't be - if he ends up a couple of levels lower, he gains XP much faster. But a high-level spellcaster should be a level or two lower than the fighter-types anyway - he should be casting spells which cost XP like Wish and Gate regularly.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Going strictly by the DMG, a wizard who is 2 levels behind the party level will gain xp twice as fast. Which means the can burn over half the experience they earn and still keep up. By level 28 or so the wizard would have been able to boost all his stats by +5. He would have more treasure than a typical 27th level character too; he's in a party of 30th level characters. Hmmm. Definitely an interesting notion. On the other hand, characters aren't doubling in power every two levels at epic levels, so I'm not sure such a discrepancy in xp awards should exist.

But that's a question for a different thread! For now, do you have any suggestions for how he could be equipped differently? I'm sure we are missing something.

 

[Cedric]

Despite the drawbacks, I'd consider a Robe of Eyes...

Also, you might want to squeeze a non-caster level in there, like Fighter. Then take a Light Mithril Shield of Heavy Fortification.

Get a bit more AC, be immune to crits and sneak attack damage....very nice.

I'd actually ditch the Headband of Intellect +8, and buy an assortment of things with it. A few different situational staffs maybe.

Also, you'll want some Pearl's of Power.

 

[Jack Simth]

That's 25,000xp for a +5 inherent bonus, all in one shot since you have to cast the Wish spells in succession.

Honestly, I think the money is easier to come by than the spare 25,000xp per +5 bonus.

That's not how you do it. At least, not before 25th.

Magic items are upgradeable (so to change a +2 Headband of Intellect into a +4 Headband of Intellect costs 6,000 gp, 480 xp); Tomes and Manuals aren't an exception. So you spend the 5,000+ a little XP to make your +1 Tome, and drop it in your backpack. A while later, you spend another 5,000+ XP to make your +1 Tome into a +2 Tome..... and so on. Once you get it up to +5, you read it. It's very nearly the only way to make a +5 Tome or Manual Pre-Epic, and it also explains why you occasionally find +1 to +4 tomes; someone was in the process of making a +5 Tome, and never got to finish....

 

[Cedric]

That's not how you do it. At least, not before 25th.

Magic items are upgradeable (so to change a +2 Headband of Intellect into a +4 Headband of Intellect costs 6,000 gp, 480 xp); Tomes and Manuals aren't an exception. So you spend the 5,000+ a little XP to make your +1 Tome, and drop it in your backpack. A while later, you spend another 5,000+ XP to make your +1 Tome into a +2 Tome..... and so on. Once you get it up to +5, you read it. It's very nearly the only way to make a +5 Tome or Manual Pre-Epic, and it also explains why you occasionally find +1 to +4 tomes; someone was in the process of making a +5 Tome, and never got to finish....

I was responding to someone else's suggestion that the wizard (who had no item creation feats) use their own Wishes to get Inherent bonuses to their stats.