Cinder04's page

Cinder04: just a quick clarification: you said this is a DM PC right? As in, there will be 3 PCs and then this DM PC acting as a support person to those PCs, like an NPC? Are you sure you want to go with an uber optimized build for such a support character?

I mean, your game is your game and I may be WAY OFF on my understanding of things, but running a DM PC that is as powerful or even more so than the PCs can be frustrating to some players. If this isn't the case then just ignore me. If this might be a concern though, maybe an NPC with levels in Expert and Adept where the Adept is reflavored as an Arcane caster? Or if you're going to take class levels, perhaps just vanilla PC levels 1 behind the characters? I don't know, just, food for thought is all.

I appreciate the suggestion, but this really is a rather unique game setup. We're playing Play-by-Post and it's a duo - so just me and one player, each of us are making 2 PC's each and we're both pretty aware of what we're getting into.

@ Dragonchess Player

Great suggestions, I'll definitely keep them in mind.

I do intend to be ranged from the beginning and will be focusing on using bows, with magic added in as I get Wizard levels.

Good thoughts, both, thank you for the replies!

@ Kurald
I'll play around with dropping levels 2&3 of Alchemist while picking up accomplished sneak attacker. It would effectively free up a trait slot (as was of course grabbing magical knack for the +2 caster level).

On the other hand, Level 3 of Vivisectionist allows me to use Kn: Nature instead of Heal for the Healer's Hands feat. I'm not sure a Wand of Infernal Healing would outweigh the healing capabilities of Healer's Hands + Signature Skill: Heal, but its something to consider.

Also, you might be right about the Sage archetype it's just SO exhilarating to have so many skill points on a familiar (Pathbuilder puts the familiar w/ 60 skill points and a 17 INT score at character level 10)...but maybe yeah, that's unnecessary for a Wizard.

@ zza ni

That is such an incredibly fun idea! Definitely rethinking my familiar idea now...

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to get some thoughts. I'll be creating a DM-controlled PC for a game of Council of Thieves I'm running soon.

The other 3 characters are a Vigilante, a Monk, and a Fighter. So we find ourselves a little light on roguishness, healing and magic in general - I decided I would go with a kind of crazy build for an Arcane Trickster.

The goal is to be a little bit of a generalized character, while being primarily a caster. Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions that might cinch it up to be better.

Here's my overall idea:

Lvl 1: Half-elf Vivisectionist (Favored classes, Wizard/Alchemist)(Feats: Healer's Hands, Skill Focus Kn Arcana)

Lvl 2-5: Wizard (Admixture School)(Opposition Schools Enchantment/Necromancy) (Bond: Familiar, Greensting Scorpion, Figment/Sage archetypes) (Lvl 5 feat - Signature Skill: Heal)

Lvl 6-7: Vivisectionist (Lvl 6 discovery: Bleeding Attack) (Level 7 feat: unsure - improved familiar? or Point Blank Shot?)

Lvl 8-9: Arcane Trickster (Lvl 9 feat: Point Blank Shot or Precise Shot)

Lvl 10: Wizard (Bonus Feat: Heighten Spell)(Note: taking this because at level 10, the familiar's effective level becomes 13 (lvl 5 Wizard plus HD 8 from Eldritch Heritage - giving the Figment familiar access to 3-point Evolutions)

Lvl 11-18: Arcane Trickster

Lvl 19-20: Wizard

------------

Some questions -

Familiar: is it worth taking improved familiar and losing the figment archetype option? If I did this, I would likely push Arcane Trickster straight from Lvl 8-17. I decided I want to use a familiar that scales with my level; I was up in the air if I would go with the Wasp Familiar feat, or the above setup - any arguments for changing to Wasp Familiar? (I think If I took Wasp familiar and didn't want an Improved Familiar, I could go with Bonded Object for Wizard lvl 1 - is that right and is that worth it?

Prohibited Schools: I picked Enchantment and Necromancy - any suggestions on better choices? Can I still use Alchemist Necromancy and Enchantment extracts?

Metamagic Feat: I thought Heighten would be good to get more uses of Scorching Ray - any suggestions for a better, 1st metamagic choice?

Alchemist Discovery: I'm torn - with only 3 levels in Alchemist I'm curious if you have any thoughts on a better discovery choice. I figured Bleeding Attack will continue to see use, but it also doesn't really scale.

Any other thoughts, comments, or suggestions? Thanks!!

I work in Tacoma - I have long hours, but would love to try Organized Play. The problem is I live on the Kitsap Peninsula so its not too convenient to get to Tacoma on my days off.