First Time Warmage, looking for ideas

[Dannyalcatraz]

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

1) My bad: the build I posted would be 10 Feats, not 11. The 11 Feat build was War6/Ftr4/EK10. One build has access to 9th level spells, the other has an extra feat.

The number of Feats may also be affected by race- one of the other players and I are planning on playing related PCs. My concept came first, but I'm a lot more flexible in my PC tastes than he is- if he comes up with a PC concept that is not compatible with Blitz being human, I'll fix it.

2) The reason for the Fighter levels: Point Blank Shot & Precise Shot as bonus feats + BAB + HD. This guy isn't intending to go into melee, but may still take a polearm & combat reflexes to get additional attacks if/when the foes get close. Combined with Arcane Strike, even Blitz's low level spells will be useful anytime.

A word about weapons: Maul is just one of my favorite weapons, and I have a ridiculously cool berobed, Maul equipped Reaper mini and a little voice in my head talking about this guy being a devotee of Thor or some such. However, I also have several lightly armored types with polearms. Both concepts are running neck & neck.

Blitz will also be using some kind of bow, much as Sabathius42 proposed, in order to maintain his spell power without sacrificing tactical advantage.

3) I like Spellswords in general, but here it seems less than optimal combined with the Warmage since the warmage starts off being able to cast without ASF in light armor, and has 2 ways of casting in medium armor without ASF (levels or Battle Caster feat). EK also has full spellcasting progression.

4) I don't remember what Arcane Disciple does, nor am I familiar with Exalted Arcanist, Knight Phantom, Skillful Weapon and Sudden Stun . Care to expand upon those?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Ah yes, I forgot one thing- if the game is set in FR, I'll probably aim for taking the Spellfire Wielder feat. Absorbing spells to either heal or do ranged touch attacks sounds good to me.

 

[szilard]

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

2) The reason for the Fighter levels: Point Blank Shot & Precise Shot as bonus feats + BAB + HD.

You wouldn't get the bonus feats, but have you considered two levels of Paladin instead? You get the bonus feats + BAB... and you add you Charisma bonus to saves. This is a good thing, because Warmages are somewhat fragile and prime targets.

-Stuart

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Actually, I considered all of the Core and Base classes except for the Psionic ones (because, like I said, my DM won't allow those), and the ones in Complete Adventurer (because he's borrowed it and I can't look at it 'till he returns it).

Of the 3 warrior classes in the PHB, I determined the Fighter to be the best of the bunch for Blitz (over a 2-4 level progression) because:

Fighter: 2-3 bonus feats, no ethos considerations, no abilities that don't fit the concept.

Ranger: Gains Rapid shot, but that doesn't help with using the rays & orbs that make up a lot of the Warmage's spell list. Has an animal companion which will be more of a hassle than its worth. Dependence on Wisdom for so many skills will make the build more complex. Divine spells lead more towards a more synergistic Mystic Theurge build, meaning more spells but yet another lost Feat. Overall, it would be less focused.

Paladin: ethos conflicts with Blitz's character- with his Kirk/Gordon/Brannigan-esque willingness to play things by ear or change rules on the fly, I envision him as more CG than LG. Dependence on Wisdom for so many skills will make the build more complex. Divine spells lead more towards a more synergistic Mystic Theurge build, meaning more spells but yet another lost Feat. Overall, it would be less focused.

The Druid and a Cleric with a warrior-type build were also strong considerations for the build, but once again, had class feature (or gaps), Feat or focus concerns that caused me to eliminate them.

 

[Thanee]

Arcane Disciple puts one cleric domain on your class spell list and allows you to cast those spells 1/day/spell level using Wis as caster ability, though. Very nice for a warmage, who doesn't have to learn the spells, but simply knows them once they are on the class spell list.

Spellfire Wielder is a feat, that most DMs won't allow.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Question]

If you want a fighter-mage hybrid, go straight duskblade.

The warmage PRC from dragonlance's "age of mortals" deserves a look at. +1 damage per die at 1st, 3rd and 5th level fits very well with the warmage's role of blasting.

 

[Andras]

4) I don't remember what Arcane Disciple does, nor am I familiar with Exalted Arcanist, Knight Phantom, Skillful Weapon and Sudden Stun . Care to expand upon those?

Exalted Arcanist is from the BoED and is a 5 level PRC, gives you some bonus feats and lets you cast w the Purify Spell and Consecrate Spell metamagics as standard actions, not Full round actions, also you get extra spells.

Skillful (CArc) is a weapon enhancement that lets you hit as if you had the BAB of a Cleric of your Caster Level (ie 3/4 CL)

Sudden Stun (DMGII) makes target take a Cha based Reflex save or be stunned for a number of rounds, usable a number of times per day as your Cha mod.

 

[Mort]

4) I don't remember what Arcane Disciple does, nor am I familiar with Exalted Arcanist, Knight Phantom, Skillful Weapon and Sudden Stun . Care to expand upon those?

The one's I'm familiar with:

1) Knight Phantom is a PrC from Five Nations (Eberron) it is detailed on the Wizards boards, here. Since you're playing a warmage, you actually can't qaulify for it as the ability to cast phantom steed is an entry requirement.

2) A skillful weapon bumps your BAB to 2/3 level (as a cleric) when using the weapon: melee weapon only, +2 bonus. It's too expensive at low-mid level and useless to you past 9th level because your BAB should be better than 2/3 progression at that point.

Some other thaughts:

you may want to swap out energy substitution for another feat. As a warmage you can cast any spell on your list at any time, and the list includes spells from all element types so you won't be caught without the right element for the job. Energy substitution is best for sorcerers as they have a much smaller spell selection and have to make do with the spells they have.

I think quickdraw is a good alternative. it allows you to not carry your weapon around all the time, and still be ready. Plus it solves most arguments about being able to cast with a drawn weapon (this way you don't have to, you just quickdraw the weapon after casting a few spells and you don't lose any action to do so). Also since your a range specialist, it'll help when you get charged and need a weapon right away.

 

[RigaMortus2]

The one's I'm familiar with:

1) Knight Phantom is a PrC from Five Nations (Eberron) it is detailed on the Wizards boards, here. Since you're playing a warmage, you actually can't qaulify for it as the ability to cast phantom steed is an entry requirement.

Well, he could qualify for it if he uses the takes Eclectic Learning ability (listed under the WarMage in PHB). Then picks Phantom Steed as one of his bonus spells.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

At this point, the prospective DM still hasn't told us how we'll be generating stats, so Arcane Disciple (which would mean dependence on a 3rd stat) is probably not going to work- too bad, I really liked it.

Spellfire is probably a 50/50 feat for this guy. He's prone to letting campaign-specific feats fly if you can come up with a good PC concept, but he hasn't run FR in 3Ed yet.

He hasn't touched any Eberron books AFAIK, so I doubt I could use the Knight Phantom.

BoED and DMGII are not going to be used, so that stuff won't be allowed.

If you want a fighter-mage hybrid, go straight duskblade.

The warmage PRC from dragonlance's "age of mortals" deserves a look at. +1 damage per die at 1st, 3rd and 5th level fits very well with the warmage's role of blasting.

I don't recall the duskblade- where is that from?

I probably won't be able to use the Dragonlance stuff, but for my edification, which book is it in?

you may want to swap out energy substitution for another feat. As a warmage you can cast any spell on your list at any time, and the list includes spells from all element types so you won't be caught without the right element for the job. Energy substitution is best for sorcerers as they have a much smaller spell selection and have to make do with the spells they have.

E-Sub is the one that I'm most conflicted about. I agree that its not as useful for the Warmage as for other arcane spellcasters, but I like the idea of throwing Lightning Balls or casting Acid Bolts, etc., and it IS a prerequisite for Energy Admixture (something else wandering around the back of my head).

I think quickdraw is a good alternative. it allows you to not carry your weapon around all the time, and still be ready. Plus it solves most arguments about being able to cast with a drawn weapon (this way you don't have to, you just quickdraw the weapon after casting a few spells and you don't lose any action to do so). Also since your a range specialist, it'll help when you get charged and need a weapon right away.

Well, as many mages as this DM has played over the 20 years I've gamed with him, I think I can convince him that casting with a drawn weapon is not only allowed, but is the standard- at least as far as our games have always been played- so that's not an issue.

As for having a weapon ready, Blitz will still have his spells.