Sorceress/Dragon Disciple/Druid/Mystic Theurge

[Hellefire]

I started my wife, her brother, and a few friends on RPGs. They talked to some friends then asked for 3.5, because it's popular in Poland. So for two months I've been learning the ropes of the 3.x/d20 system. I've got the basics down, but my wife is asking me for specific advice, and I don't have the experience necessary to give her good advice on this.

Because all of the players are new to gaming, and I am new to 3.x, most people have been sticking with a single class, or adding a prestige class as a second class. They range from level 7-10 at the moment. Those who stuck with a single class have gotten fairly good at their classes.

My wife wanted more hit points and some combat abilities and stat bonuses, so she added dragon disciple. After a few levels in DD, she realized her spells were becoming less useful, and decided that she wanted to work toward the mystic theurge prestige class. So, she added druid. At the moment, she is level 10 (5 SOR/3 DD/2 DRU). She plans to get 1 more level in druid, then go with mystic theurge so that she goes up in casting ability in both druid and sorceress. I think it's a good concept character, but not sure if it will balance well on the power side.

Any thoughts about that? Or on other advancement ideas?

Aaron

 

[glass]

That sounds like an interesting concept, but I am afraid it is always going to be rather weak.

Mystic Theurge makes Arcane/Divine multiclasses more viable, but they are still one the weak side (at least until very high levels, when they get 9th level spells -three levels after everyone else). Adding three levels of a combat-related class into the mix doesn't help matters any.

I am not sure what to suggest for this character. Your wife has a number of options, none of which are ideal. She could...

1. plow on with the MT route, in which case she should stick to summoning and buffing spells (avoiding saves and SR), and should take the Practiced Spellcaster feat ASAP.
   
2. forget about the MT and just go back to adding sorcerer levels. This will get her higher level spells one level earlier, but she still won't get ninth level spells before epic levels and she has already paid most of the price for MT so this isn't a very satisfactory option. The advice about Practiced Spellcaster and buffing/summoning still applies.
   
3. Forget about trying to be a primary spellcaster (it is probably too late for that anyway) and start taking fighter and or barbarian levels to take advatage of the DD's fighting abilities. Unfortunately, all those sorcerer levels probably leave the character with less than stellar hp, so in this case I'd suggest barbarian for the d12s and Improved Toughness ASAP.
   
4. as 3, but take Eldritch Knight levels to continue with the spellcasting somewhat. Again buff spells are the way to go, especially long lasting ones like false life that can be cast before armouring up.
   
5. Retire the character and bring in a new, more focussed character.

Sadly, I think that option 5 might be the best one in this case. D&D tends to punish characters who try to cover too many bases. Two can usually be made viable with feats and PrCs, but three is pushing it.

Druids can be played as combat specialist with wildshape, but unfortunately that does not synergise at all well with DD. If the combat related class had been just about any other, it might have been a good idea to carry on with druid aiming for wildshape.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.


glass.

 

[smootrk]

Overall MT is weak unless you enter the class asap with only the 2 main caster requirements. Even then, the MT gives up a lot of spell power (levels) in exchange for great versatility (quantity of spells), although you will be giving up even more with that third class, especially if she plans to keep adding levels there periodically.

My advice would be to pick up the Players Handbook 2, because it has some 'rebuilding' rules that allow for exchanging some abilities - which over time, may allow her to drop those useless abilities for better ones. You could even use a similar rationale to allow her to re-choose her class choices (although this would move into houserule area). There are also options for exchanging certain class skills to individualize the character.

If she is dead-set on MT, it is still OK, as long as she realizes that she is giving up the powerful spells she might gain access to for lots of lower level spells - which may be of limited use against the stronger foes that she would encounter, appropriate to her overall level.

 

[QuaziquestGM]

The most important thing to remember is that it is HER character, and that character already has a history.

respect those things beyond all else, other wise the character loses it's definition.

Right now, the character has 2 defining characteristics.

A: A strong connection to dragons. This is from the Sorc and DD classes. she may want to look for ways to play up this connection. She cannot do this by taking any more sorc or dd levels without losing the option of further progression in the Druid class. Additional layers of Druid will allow her to use the animal companion ability to have a pet drake or lizard. She can take levels in the MT prestige class without losing the option of takeing more druid levels later. As for new Sorc spells learned though the MT class, those spells that produce dragonlike effects or Monster Summoning spells that can actually bring dragon like creatures into play as alllies should be selected.

B: A "woodsy" type. DD and druid indicate an out of doors caster. Play this up. Always have Entangle preped.....

 

[IcyCool]

If you have a copy of Races of the Wild, you might direct her toward the Arcane Heirophant instead of the Mystic Theurge.

 

[Hellefire]

Thanks for the tips! Where is practiced spellcaster feat? What book I mean?
I don't have races of the wild, but working on getting it.

I know a lot of rules-centered D&D (3.x) centers around power, but I want to encourage concept characters, role-playing and personalized touches as much as min-max/powergaming. Not that I mind those with a good character concept behind them, but I go for the concept more than the powergaming in general.

Thanks again for the ideas!
Aaron

 

[Drowbane]

Thanks for the tips! Where is practiced spellcaster feat? What book I mean?

Complete Arcane