Please help. Best spell selection for sorc arcan trickster?

Ok, here are some nice spells for you:

Cantrips:
Presdigitation - the best cantrip of them all
Ghost Sound - can create speech--and that's all you need to know
Dancing Lights - make light or vague shapes
Mage Hand - all sorts of fun
Detect Magic - know what is good to take and bad to touch
Read Magic - use scrolls
Ray of Frost - just because you can Sneak Attack with it
Light - lasts for some time. don't take it if you have darkvision (don't remember what aasimar gets)
Mending - your clothes always look good


Level 1:
Grease - the ultimate prankster spell. Also very useful in combat, since it forces a saving throw every round.
Endure Elements - not exactly in line with the prankster theme, but hugely useful: it lasts for 24 hours (great to cast on yourself and the party before going to bed). Also useful for avoiding some of the effect of certain traps
Shield - this one will keep you alive more than once
Feather Fall - might just save your life one day. Plus, you get make a show of yourself when everyone is climbing down a ladder and you just jump
Magic Missile - very good spell, even though you can't Sneak Attack with it
Other good ones here: Hold Portal (if you don't take Arcane Lock), Protection from Evil, Unseen Servant, True Strike (get a wand instead), Ventriloquism, Animate Rope.


Level 2:
Knock - a no-brainer, really
See Invisibility - this is a must-have at this level; you'll be casting it often
Alter Self - the possibilities are limitless. I would take this over Polymorph Self because you get to keep your physical stats (for you, this will be important). You can also just change one thing or two.
Arcane Lock - I love this spell, though admittedly you could just get a wand or some scrolls of it. I find it a nice trick, since you can open the door, but no one else can. You may want to take Hold Portal at 1st level, though, freeing this up for something like Mirror Image or a stat buff (Endurance is good, since Cat's Grace will be obsolete by 14th level)



Level 3:
Flame Arrow - if you focus on ranged attacks for combat
Haste - the best spell for the level. Really too good
Suggestion - if you like the persuasive side of your charisma score. If you feel you need something more combat-oriented, take Slow instead.
Don't take any big evocations: you will never do much damage with them when compared to a wizard or sorcerer of your level. Other great spells here: Dispel Magic (if you have no cleric or arcane user in the party, take this), Protection from Elements, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Slow, Shrink Item, Fly (you can do it with Alter Self, though poorly).


Level 4:
Improved Invisibility - another no-brainer
A researched Illusion, maybe? Something like Major Image, but with speech. If you can research that here, you could save a 3rd or 5th level spot on the illusions (those levels have more goodies IMO). If you can't, take Charm Monster, maybe, Dimension Door (if you feel you need mobility), Polymorph Other for the fort save (not really in-line with the char, but you don't have to use it on people... the knight's warhorse is more vulnerable to the effect :D) or Confusion... If you want protection, take Minor Globe of Invulnerability or Stoneskin.


Level 5:
This one is entirely upto you. Telekinesis is nice, but Teleport is a must-have... Wall of Force is also a very strong spell, as is Hold Monster. Ghostform (from T&B) is a great defensive spell, and it also allows you to pass through walls and play some tricks. If you don't have an illusion by now, Persistant Image is the spell for you.


For feat, Still and Silent spell seem very fitting. Eschew Materials might also be good for you (depends on your spell selection--if you have a lot of stuff you'd like to cast undiscovered with material components, take it). Other than that, I would focus on ranged attacks, using Flame Arrow to do some extra damage.
 

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0th level: Ray of Frost, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Open/Lock...
1st level: Chill Touch, Shield, Grease, Spider Climb, Detect Secret Doors
2nd level: Alter Self, Melf's Acid Arrow, Invisibility, See Invisibility (use as a counterspell if needs be!)
3rd level: Haste, Dispel Magic, Slow
4th level: Enervation (but you must say it like Bono says El-e-vay-tion), Dimension Door
5th level: Passwall or Persistant Image
 


Just a note, you need 4 levels of Rogue in order to qualify for Arcane Trickster. Decipher Script is a Rogue Exclusive skill.

Sorcerer makes it tough. At 14th level taking minimal for prerequisites you would have a Rogue 4/Sorcerer 6/Arcane Trickster 4.

0:

Daze or Flare, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mending.

Think of all the fun you could have with using Arcane Mark for graffitti.

1: Alarm, Hold Portal, Grease, Erase, maybe Nystal's Magic Aura or Animate Rope.

Alarm is a great way to startle someone.

Combining a good bluff skill with Nystal's Magic Aura would make it easier to carry out certain types of confidence games.

2: Glitterdust, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Alter Self, Detect Thoughts.

3: Nondetection, Suggestion, Shrink Item

On second thought, I'm not sure I want to think about all the trouble a trickster could cause with Shrink Item and a bit of imagination.

4: Fire Trap, Confusion

5: Mirage Arcana or Seeming, Stone Shape


I would not suggest you take exactly this spell list. I was looking for what spells I thought a trickster could best use rather than trying to come up with a good Sorcerer's spell list.

Don't forget to consider the type of things you can do with your skills, especially using Pick Pockets for various slight of hand tricks and Bluff for fooling people.
 

stupid me. I quoted my self on accident. That will treach me to post late at night.

well thats if you use that rule. our house rule is if you have a skill from one class and lvl up in one that doesn't have that skill you can still put points into it (because you already know how to use it and you can still get better at it)

also on the plane touched thing, yeah another house rule affect hear where its a template type race.

I'm still thinking that wall of force is going to be the best spell to shoose for 5th lvl cause you can do so much with it. trap a guard for instance.

One thing I am considering is that the campaign party is running having a run in with some nasty vampires and I want to make sure i can do something to help. so Iam going to def. pick up flame arrow (although I can't sneak attack undead with it) :(
 
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Actually, an arcane trickster need to be at least a 4th lvl rogue. They have the requirement of decipher script 7, which is class exclusive for rogues and bards.
 

I thought the rule was that you could have ranks = character level + 3 for any skill that is in the set of class skills for any class you hold. In that case, you'd only need to take the 1 level of rogue for this particular requirement.
 

Dinkeldog said:
I thought the rule was that you could have ranks = character level + 3 for any skill that is in the set of class skills for any class you hold. In that case, you'd only need to take the 1 level of rogue for this particular requirement.

Not quite.

PHB pg 56, Skills:

"If a skill is unavailable to a class (that is, if it's an exclusive skill that a multiclass character's other class doesn't have access to), then levels in that calss don't increase the multiclass characters's maximum ranks."

Decipher Script is exclusive to Bards and Rogues. You need at least 7 ranks in Decipher Script, which requires that you have a total of 4 levels of Bard or Rogue. Since Bard doesn't get you the sneak attack ability, you are usually better off just taking 4 levels of Rogue.

When you start mixing PrCs, there are other ways to meet the requirements. For example, I believe the Lore Master gets Decipher Script. I don't think any of these combinations result in a lower total level in order to qualify for Arcane Trickster.
 

Cake Mage said:
well thats if you use that rule. our house rule is if you have a skill from one class and lvl up in one that doesn't have that skill you can still put points into it (because you already know how to use it and you can still get better at it)

This time I ment to.
yeah house rule thing. If you have a skill with one class and lvl up another clas that doesn't hvae it you can use the skill points you just got to that skill that is exclusive or what ever.

but you still need that+2d6 sneak attack so you have to go 3 lvls of rogue
 

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