Stats went:
STR: 15 (+2 Human)
DEX: 14
CON: 12
INT: 15
WIS: 10
CHA: 9
Traits: Reactionary, Magical Knack
1st: Fighter: Power Attack (Human), Weapon Focus (1st), Improved Initiative (Fighter)
2nd: Wizard. Specialty School: Transmutation. Opposed: Necromancy and Enchantment. 1st level spell book: Grease, Mage Armor, Silent Image, Magic Weapon, Enlarge Person, Feather Fall.
3rd: Wizard. Feat?
4th: Wizard. Stat boost to STR, Transmute bonus shifts to Con
5th: Wizard. Feat?
6th: Wizard. Wizard Feat?. Transmute bonus on either CON or DEX.
7th: Eldritch Knight. 2x Feat?
8th: EK. Stat boost to INT
9th: EK. Feat? (probably Weapon Specialization, Falchion)
10th: EK.
11th: EK. Feat + Fighter Feat
12th: EK. Stat boost to INT.
13th: EK. Feat?
14th: EK.
15th: EK. Feat + Fighter Feat
16th: EK: Stat boost to INT
We're playing in a Pathfinderized Iron Kingdoms game. We're all at 1st, with 2nd level staring us in the face.
It's unlikely the game will get to 16th level, and I expect it to peter out around level 10-12.
Party has two Gun Mages (or as we call 'em, "Shooty Bards"), a Rogue, a Dwarven barbarian, a Dwarven Cleric and me.
Some house rules in place:
The GM has ruled that Arcane Armor Training/Arcane Armor Mastery does not require a Quick Action. In a setting where wizards drive 'Mecha, this seems appropriate.
Iron Kingdoms is a setting where magic items past a certain power level are pretty rare. I may find that spending a feat on item creation is worthwhile depending on how he rules on PC item creation in the setting. (The IK rulebook has limits based on how many XP the item eats, Pathfinder got rid of item XP costs, so he's got to make some decisions.)
I'm looking for recommendations for Feats, particularly ones that will help an arcane caster. I'm also looking for recommendations on spells.
I'm figuring that blasty-type spells are less useful than divide-and-conquer spells and party buffs/enemy debuffs. Once it's available, I expect to have at least one instance of Haste memorized each day...
We're playing in a Pathfinderized Iron Kingdoms game. We're all at 1st, with 2nd level staring us in the face.The GM has ruled that Arcane Armor Training/Arcane Armor Mastery does not require a Quick Action. In a setting where wizards drive 'Mecha, this seems appropriate.
Iron Kingdoms is a setting where magic items past a certain power level are pretty rare. I may find that spending a feat on item creation is worthwhile depending on how he rules on PC item creation in the setting. (The IK rulebook has limits based on how many XP the item eats, Pathfinder got rid of item XP costs, so he's got to make some decisions.)
I'm looking for recommendations for Feats, particularly ones that will help an arcane caster. I'm also looking for recommendations on spells.
Combat Casting at 3rd level (or Arcane Strike)
Arcane Armor Training at 5th levelStill Spell as your Wiz5 bonus feat
Arcane Strike (or Combat Casting) at 7th level, with Toughness as your bonus feat (close the HP gap)
Arcane Armor Mastery at 9th level.
These feats, plus Improved Initiative, are all pretty much must-haves for Eldritch Knights. Still Spell is the only one that isn't must-have, but it does allow you to wear armor with a worse than 20% failure rate and still succeed 100% of the time. It depends how much armor you want. Mithril isn't available and I can't find any reference to Serricsteel reducing arcane failure rate (I may be wrong). Warcaster armor does...good luck with that. Lack of mithril is IMHO your biggest obstacle; you'll be restricted to chain shirts if you want to avoid failure entirely. Unless you can get your hands on Celestial Armor (at twice the price!)
If you want to go full armor and are willing to accept spell limitations above and beyond normal for EKs, you could try going Still Spell and Verbal Only spells. There are a couple good ones at each level (True Strike/Feather Fall at 1st, Blindness/Blur/Darkness/Knock at 2nd, Suggestion/Displacement/Tongues at 3rd). Restrictive as heck but you wouldn't need AAT/AAM.
DO NOT take Item Creation Feats. Iron Kingdoms has the worst ever system for making magical items (among other things). Chance to lose hit points for making (most) non mekanical items? Screw that. And mekanical items are a mess. Pay NPCs to do all this junk. Spells like Greater Magic Weapon become more important.
Talk to your DM. IK doubles normal item creation costs, this is probably enough restriction (without adding HP loss). Mekanica costs more normal amounts but has its own problems.
Thank you, Helic
I'm considering this, based on your advice:
3rd: Arcane Armor Training (Magical Knack means I can get AAT at 3rd)
5th: Combat Casting
6th: Wizard bonus: Either Craft Arms & Armor or Extend Spell
7th: Arcane Armor Mastery, Arcane Strike
The GM is considering several bits to make magic items work; he's not happy with the IK magic items rules. He likes the effect they're trying to make, but wands, for example, are generally better than pistols.
I'll have a few sessions before deciding what I want to do with that feat.
Since I already fight with light armor and a buckler, and can hold the falchion in the hand with the buckler to free one up to cast spells, I will probably max out at studded leather and buckler. Being able to enchant both looks like it'd be pretty sensible.
I have been told that NPC magic item creators other than arcane mekaniks are very rare.
Are you starting the Witchfire Trilogy? I highly recommend it, lots of fun and very well written.
Thank you, Helic
I'm considering this, based on your advice:
3rd: Arcane Armor Training (Magical Knack means I can get AAT at 3rd)
Shoot me, you can. Well done.
5th: Combat Casting
6th: Wizard bonus: Either Craft Arms & Armor or Extend Spell
7th: Arcane Armor Mastery, Arcane Strike
Hmm...Extend Spell Can be VERY VERY useful. Since you're going to limit your armor, I'd say Extend Spell over Craft Arms and Armor. Depends what your GM does with magical item creation.
The GM is considering several bits to make magic items work; he's not happy with the IK magic items rules. He likes the effect they're trying to make, but wands, for example, are generally better than pistols.
Yeah. Watch what a wand of Crush Construct does to a warjack. Basically it makes spending money on warjacks a joke. And firearms were pretty pathetic in IK.
Sigh...I b~%@* at that setting, but I wanted to love it. It's just so badly put together. I mean, you've got feats that should be prestige classes for crying out loud :-(.
Since I already fight with light armor and a buckler, and can hold the falchion in the hand with the buckler to free one up to cast spells, I will probably max out at studded leather and buckler. Being able to enchant both looks like it'd be pretty sensible.
Don't forget that fashionable Greatcoat, which stacks with light armor. Cheap way to get armor special abilities; get a Greatcoat +1 with whatever extra ability you want, and just put +X on your 'main' armor.
I have been told that NPC magic item creators other than arcane mekaniks are very rare.
Hmm. That might change things, true. Though, arcane mekaniks CAN enchant 'regular' magic armor IIRC. Ask your GM about that too.
Shoot me, you can. Well done.Thank you, Helic
I'm considering this, based on your advice:
3rd: Arcane Armor Training (Magical Knack means I can get AAT at 3rd)
There are three feats I want to take at 3rd/5th:
Toughness (at level 3 so I don't lose the extra hit points for taking it later)
Combat Casting (Can wait until 5th)
Arcane Armor Training (which is heavily dependent on whether or not I can get enchanted studded leather armor/bucklers in this setting.)
Right now, I'm leaning towards this:
3rd: Toughness
5th: Combat Casting
6th: Craft Magic Arms/Armor OR Extend Spell
7th: Arcane Armor Training/Arcane Armor Mastery, which will finally free me of my Mage Armor Scroll Habit. :)
Hmm...Extend Spell Can be VERY VERY useful. Since you're going to limit your armor, I'd say Extend Spell over Craft Arms and Armor. Depends what your GM does with magical item creation.
Yeah. He is looking at making metamagic more useful too.
Sigh...I b@%!! at that setting, but I wanted to love it. It's just so badly put together. I mean, you've got feats that should be prestige classes for crying out loud :-(.
I want to like the setting. But man, is D&D 3.0/3.5/PF so the wrong system for it, particularly with the problem of encounter levels that presume certain magic items as standard equipment, and the 'death by cheese grater' combat model.
Right now, he's seriously thinking about banning wands/staves entirely. Scrolls tend to be self limiting. Potions can probably be made alchemical in nature.
Toughness (at level 3 so I don't lose the extra hit points for taking it later)
You never do. When you take it, you get +3 hit points. You also get +(level-3) hit points. You also get +1 hit point every time you level up thereafter. I can see the confusion you might've had with it. Basically, it's +1 HP per Hit Die you have, but if you take it before you have 3 hit dice, you get +3 HP.
But, taking it early as possible is good, especially given your levels 2-6 are basically Wizard levels.
Combat Casting (Can wait until 5th)Arcane Armor Training (which is heavily dependent on whether or not I can get enchanted studded leather armor/bucklers in this setting.)
Yeah, and how soon you can get them. Mage Armor is as good as Studded Leather Armor +1, after all.
7th: Arcane Armor Training/Arcane Armor Mastery, which will finally free me of my Mage Armor Scroll Habit. :)
Nah, just memorize the sucker. You probably won't need it more than twice a day and until you have Combat Casting (i.e. can actually cast spells in a fight) it's one of your better choices.
I want to like the setting. But man, is D&D 3.0/3.5/PF so the wrong system for it, particularly with the problem of encounter levels that presume certain magic items as standard equipment, and the 'death by cheese grater' combat model.
Iron Kingdoms failed not because fantasy steampunk is bad for D&D, but because Privateer Press overcomplicated EVERYTHING. Firearms? Oh, Concentration and Craft: Small Arms checks please. Mekanica? Follow this eight-step process please. Raise Dead? Fat chance...but if you manage it, roll on these four charts'o'badthings please. Clerical healing? Only so much, please (that amount was so large as to be pointless). BTW, anyone who is reading this, I am only exaggerating a little. And anyone from Privateer Press who is reading this, I STILL want to play D&D/Pathfinder in IK, if you could make the rules less like reaching into a box full of rusty needles. And I know you can - the Warmachine rules are excellent miniatures rules.
Toughness (at level 3 so I don't lose the extra hit points for taking it later)You never do. When you take it, you get +3 hit points. You also get +(level-3) hit points. You also get +1 hit point every time you level up thereafter. I can see the confusion you might've had with it. Basically, it's +1 HP per Hit Die you have, but if you take it before you have 3 hit dice, you get +3 HP.
But, taking it early as possible is good, especially given your levels 2-6 are basically Wizard levels.
Combat Casting (Can wait until 5th)Arcane Armor Training (which is heavily dependent on whether or not I can get enchanted studded leather armor/bucklers in this setting.)
Yeah, and how soon you can get them. Mage Armor is as good as Studded Leather Armor +1, after all.
7th: Arcane Armor Training/Arcane Armor Mastery, which will finally free me of my Mage Armor Scroll Habit. :)
Nah, just memorize the sucker. You probably won't need it more than twice a day and until you have Combat Casting (i.e. can actually cast spells in a fight) it's one of your better choices.
Iron Kingdoms failed not because fantasy steampunk is bad for D&D, but because Privateer Press overcomplicated EVERYTHING. Firearms? Oh, Concentration and Craft: Small Arms checks please. Mekanica? Follow this eight-step process please. Raise Dead? Fat chance...but if you manage it, roll on these four charts'o'badthings please. Clerical healing? Only so much, please (that amount was so large as to be pointless). BTW, anyone who is reading this, I am only exaggerating a little. And anyone from Privateer Press who is reading this, I STILL want to play D&D/Pathfinder in IK, if you could make the rules less like reaching into a...
I want to like the setting. But man, is D&D 3.0/3.5/PF so the wrong system for it, particularly with the problem of encounter levels that presume certain magic items as standard equipment, and the 'death by cheese grater' combat model.
One of my Gms did a IK game using the Warhammer FRP Rules. It was an easy conversion and worked great! (And WH has rules for firearms).
The only real trouble was converting spells, but that went quickly enough. (I've looked at the conversion rules and I'm thinking of converting all of the WM and Hordes magic as well).
Anyway, it was a fun and east game.