Help with Sorcerer & survival!

[donremus]

Just started a campaign as a half elven sorcerer with a rat familiar, I usually play rogue/fighter types but fancied a change. I don't really want to specialize too much and want to aid the party whenever I can. Any good survival tips on offer as the low hit points are scary? What about the feats I should take?

I have taken Combat Casting as my first feat, my CHA is 18 and our campaigns tend to be intrigue and combat based.

p.s. I already fell foul of a falling logs trap in a corridor, knocking me unconscious for 6 damage!

 

[Darklone]

Ouch. 5 hitpoints? Raise your con

As soon as you hit level 3, pay the cleric to cast shield other on you.

What are your stats? Is dex high at least? Con 12 only? Get a crossbow and learn to sneak.

 

[Wraith-Hunter]

Combat casting is not one of the better feats unless you need it for a PrC. It only applies for one use of the concentration skill. Skill Focus Concentration would be better as it can be used in more situations.

I would choose human or elf for the race. Human for the feat elf for the +2 dex and weapon profs. I don't think 1/2 elf gives you either. So unless you have a strong role playing reason I would choose a diff race.

I personally put my 2nd best score in con to offset the hitpoints. You might want to check out the Abjurant Champion PrC in complete Mage. I think it has a higher Hit Die and BaB. But you would have to give up a shcool of magic, most recomend evocation, and I'm pretty sure you would need combat casting to get in.

There is a class feature substitution in the PHB 2 that lets you trade your familliar for the ability to use metamagic with no casting time increase 3+ int bonus a day. I really like that.

Also look into paded or leather armor. No skill penalty so you can wear either with no penalty to rolls. You would have a 5-10% chance to loose spells with somantic components though. Might help depending on your spell selection.

 

[Wraith-Hunter]

If you have the extra gold I also like to use caltrops and smoke sticks, various uses to keep enemies at bay. Tanglefoot bags are also nice.

But it is tough with a low con. Keep your defenses up. What spells do you have?

 

[Thurbane]

Invest in potions and scrolls of Mage Armor, Shield, Mirror Image, Invisibility, Displacement, Stoneskin, Shield of Faith...anything at all that will help protect you from physical damage.

 

[Agamon]

Just stay away from melee and don't make yourself a target for ranged attacks and spells. Lose the combat casting, if you're in a position to use it, you're in big trouble. CC is better for divine casters (or half-dragon wood elf sorcerers with 22 Str and 20 Dex...yeah, one of my players just made one of those).

More often than not, the arcane casters are the last PCs to fall in my games, just because they aren't often good targets.

 

[The Edge]

It might be a little tough not to specialise as a sorcerer, simply due to how their spell selection works. Try to consider spells carefuly and how much you'll actually use them. With my sorcerer I found there were severel spells which would be really cool at times, but were likey to be barely used.

My sorcerer took the common role of party artillery, with at least one combat spell per level, picked to work well with the other spells. Also got to use disguise self a lot, and became the unexpected 'false face' of the party, which due to being hunted in the campain wanted to stay hidden, and always presented myself in a diferent disguise to each new npc. So if you can find particular spells which you can use a lot, thats good too.

If you want armour but not to have a fail risk on certain spells, the fey craft armour template in unearthed acanea/DM guide II (I forget which... ) would let you use padded armour with no penalty and is quite cheep, plus being non magical you it could then be enchanted for nice bonuses. I can't really imagine fey useing padded, so I reckon whatever their equivilent for the stats would be, would look fairly cool. Only problem is while cheep, it is suposed to be rare and so you might have to work stuff out with your dm. Also you might not have the book and so... :\


Erm... Not sure if thats any help. Hope so...

 

[Legildur]

The False Life spell has previously been recommended on many threads. Though I don't believe that you qualify for it yet.

 

[IanB]

Mirror image, mirror image, mirror image. And false life.

 

[Cutty Sark]

On your way to mirror image and false life, be sure to find access to mage armor and shield. If you know a combat is coming, get them up. Other than that, your best bet for the first few levels is to stay out of combat completely. Stay in between party members, and a fair bit behind the front line. And a mithril buckler might be something to look for.