I have the opportunity to run a campaign for a 10th level wizard as a solo. What are your thoughts about running this character through the Shackled City campaign from the beginning? She's using the level buyoff option from Unearthed Arcana with a 9th level half-celestial wizard and a pseudodragon familiar, a staff of fire, and other items for a wealth level consistent with the DMG.
I could gather up and post the character if you think it would help, but I was just wondering if this would be a good idea or if she's going to face insurmountable odds later on in the campaign. She could get an NPC that I would run, but I would like to avoid that if possible. The original idea of the character is a gandalf-like persona that goes around helping people with their problems by themselves in relatively low-level dungeons as an experiment (which has worked out well). Also, she's a long-time gamer but not a tactician and has never played an arcane caster. I generally give her subtle hints along the way when she gets stumped. Thoughts?
Matt Lathrum wrote: I have the opportunity to run a campaign for a 10th level wizard as a solo. What are your thoughts about running this character through the Shackled City campaign from the beginning? She's using the level buyoff option from Unearthed Arcana with a 9th level half-celestial wizard and a pseudodragon familiar, a staff of fire, and other items for a wealth level consistent with the DMG.
I could gather up and post the character if you think it would help, but I was just wondering if this would be a good idea or if she's going to face insurmountable odds later on in the campaign. She could get an NPC that I would run, but I would like to avoid that if possible. The original idea of the character is a gandalf-like persona that goes around helping people with their problems by themselves in relatively low-level dungeons as an experiment (which has worked out well). Also, she's a long-time gamer but not a tactician and has never played an arcane caster. I generally give her subtle hints along the way when she gets stumped. Thoughts?
I've been doing this kind of thing for years and it has been great fun. Let me know how it goes for you.
Thoth-Amon
Here is the character that will be running through it. Any advice on running the game with a solo wizard is appreciated. Yes, she is a spellfire wielder.
Celest; Half-Celestial Wiz9: Size M; HD 7d4+14; hp 53; Init +3; Spd 20 ft (base 30 ft); AC 21, touch 15, FF 18; BAB +4; Grapple +4; Atk: +4 melee (1d3, Unarmed), +8 (1d4/crit 19-20, Dagger MW), +5 melee (1d6 + 1, Quarterstaff +1); SA , Smite Evil; SQ darkvision, resistance to acid, cold, electricity 10, Damage reduction 5/magic; SR 14; AL NG; SV Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +10; Str 10, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 12.
Languages spoken: Common, Celestial, Abysal, Infernol, Draconic, Elven, Dwarven
Skills and Feats: Craft (Alchemy) +10, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +7, Concentration +15, Decipher Script +6, Diplomacy +3, Gather Information +5, Handle Animal +2, Knowledge (Arcana) +17, Knowledge (Architecture) +6, Knowledge (Geography) +7, Knowledge (History) +7, Knowledge (Nature) +7, Knowledge (Nobility) +8, Knowledge (Planes) +10, Knowledge (Religion) +12, Listen +5, Move Silently +1, Profession (Brewer) +4, Spellcraft +19, Spot +5, Tumble +1; Alertness, Craft Wondrous Item, Improved Energy Resistance, Improved Familiar, Magical Artisan - Craft Wondrous Item, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus, Spellfire Wielder.
Special Abilities: Darkvision, Empathic Link, Familiar, Resistance To Energy, Share Spells, Smite Evil, Spell Resistance.
Possessions: 121 pp, 1931 gp, 10 sp, 9 cp, 6 A body (rod of absorption) levels of spellfire, Bag of holding 1, Acid (flask), 4 Alchemist's fire (flask), 2 Antitoxin (vial), Bandoleer masterwork (10 items), Acid (flask), 3 Proof against disease +4 against next saving throw), Blessed book, Map or scroll case, Scroll of acid arrow (arc), Scroll of cat's grace (arc), 0 Scroll of knock (arc), Scroll of mage armor (arc), Scroll of pyrotechnics (arc), Scroll of spider climb (arc), Everburning candle, Flask, Flint and steel, Gems, 7 Amber, 2 Jade, Onyx, 3 Onyx, 4 Pearl, 10 Saphire, 4 Smoky quartz, Potion of protection from energy (fire), Qua's feather token (tree), 2 Silk rope (50 ft.), 2 Sack, Sack with caltrops, 3 Smokestick, Sunrod, Tome of dragon lore, Wand of entangle, Body, Backpack, Potion masterwork belt (free action holds 10 items), 7 Potion of cure light wounds, Potion of cure moderate wounds, Potion of endure elements, Potion of fire breath, 2 Bracelets w/ silver dragons, Earth silk jersey, Necklace - for guild, Belt pouch, Pearl of power 1st-level (shield or magic missle etc), Sunrod, Maximize lesser - damaging spells rod of metamagic, Traveler's outfit, Body slot, Scarab periapt necklace medallion brooch body slot: amulet, Amulet of health +2, Body slot: belt, Body slot: boots, Body slot: bracers, Mantle cape body slot: cloak, Cloak of resistance +2, Goggles body slot: eye lenses, Body slot: gloves, Gloves of dexterity +2, Helmet body slot: headband, Body slot: rings (2), Ring of protection +2, Body slot: robe, Body slot: shirt, Vestment body slot: vest, Vest of healing - cure light (1d8+1) each round, Dagger mw, Staff of fire - burning hands (1 charge) fireball (1 charge) wall of fire (2 charges), Wand of detect magic.
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(The boards ate my first attempt to post this, hopefully it won't become a dreaded double-post...)
It sounds like a really fun game. Here are a few things that may be worth considering.
1) She'll only get the number of actions per round of a single character, so she may get mobbed and taken down by a number of weak foes (probably not at the outset, but as the game goes forward it becomes more likely). SUGGESTION: Have her familiar be a combatant (see point 2); consider adding a Shield Guardian later as an ally under her control.
2) She has Improved Familiar, but I didn't see details on the familiar. If she's going to use her familiar as a combatant, it's very important that a significant amount of wealth be spent on its equipment (bracers of armor or some sort of barding with magical enhancement; ring of protection, amulet of natural armor; stat boosting items.) She should probably also have a Belt of Many Pockets so there's somewhere safe for her familiar to retreat when necessary (depending on the familiar's form). SUGGESTION: Max out ranks in Use Magic Device (for HER, and her familiar can use it at her ranks) and give the familiar a magic item that grants a bonus to that skill, and it should be able to use wands. (I ran a campaign with a sorceress whose pseudodragon familiar did this, although even with the UMD skill boost item, he needed to roll an 8 or better to trigger wands; it worked out really well, actually.) BONUS: Use Magic Device will also let her use scrolls and wands of Curing spells, Heal, Restoration and the like.
3) Save-or-Die type spells (used against her) will be anticlimactic; either the DCs are always so low that she's in no danger (boring), or else there's a chance she'll fail in which case a single bad roll will inevitably occur, and she won't have anyone to back her up. This includes simple stuff like Hold Person, effects that Stun her, etc. SUGGESTION: As soon as she can, once she realizes she's getting into tougher challenges, she should take Craft Contingent Spell. Then, she should place a whole set of contingent spells on herself, frequently with the aid of another spellcaster (Jenya?) for divine spells, such as:
- "If I fall to 0hp or lower, or am affected by one of the following effects....(list them)" - Heal
- "If I am held, grappled for more than six seconds, or ..." - Freedom of Movement
- "If I am targeted with a death effect" - Death Ward
etc.
The idea in general is cool, but you would have to adjust certain things to make the AP playable.
Off the top of my head, I can think of two instances where there might be problems. One of the is the end of the Test of the Smoking Eye. That one can be solved through rolepaying and creative thinking.
The other one has to do with fighting a beholder; its antimagic ray won't allow a wizard to have much fun.
Besides that, I second the comments about those do or die saving throws that will invariably show up. The dragons in particular can be very nasty in this campaign. Considering wizards don't have too many hit points, a well-placed breath weapon can spell certain doom for your player.
If you can adjust things to handle those issues, you can have a very rewarding and interesting experience.
If you post a journal about it, let us know. It would be a very interesting experiment, to say the least...
Thanks for the suggestions. The pseudodragon, named Phesek, already gets into combat. I think there are some great ideas on using UMD to help Phesek become a more active combatant, especially when its sting attack is not effective.
The shield guardian is another great idea. I'll have to figure out a way to work it in.
For death ward, she's going to put it on some bracers. Some contingencies would be nice, though it will take a while to gather enough cash to do that kind of thing.
She has the Vest of Healing (i.e. the Armor of Healing from a Dragon magazine), which pings her with a CLW once each round she's hit.
Beholders aren't that tough if you're prepared. All she needs is the Ray Deflection spell and an Orb spell. Since Orb spells are instantaneous conjuration, they get through anti-magic zones.
With my subscription of Dungeon, I've been looking at the Age of Worms campaign and I'm really impressed with all the extra stuff they have released for that campaign, including player-only maps. It almost makes me want to run that one instead. Having that stuff makes running the game using MapTool and DM Genie that much easier. Is there someplace that has those kinds of extras for the Shackled City campaign? I don't want to buy the hardcover, since I have all the magazines already.
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japp, at rpggenius... i do not have the link at hand at the moment, but a quick search of this forum should provide you with the link to the site.
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