I was discussing an up-coming campaign with my GM last night, as we began talking about party roles.
(It will be our first full Pathfinder game.)
He implied a wizard would be a bad idea for campaign reasons (lost world adventure, little access to other wizards and few items available).
He then went on to suggest that the arcane bond was horrible as the item could be broken or taken, costing too much to replace (lost world means little access to casting goods we don't make ourselves, let alone straight cash) and making it impossible to cast without heinous concentration checks.
I like the bonded item, but wasn't able to come up with an argument to answer him.
What do ya'll think?
I like bonded items alright, even though they get a bad rap for that weakness. As long as your GM is usually reasonable, then I don't see any trouble with taking one. (Make it small, perhaps? A ring?) Playing a wizard under such conditions as you describe can be tough, but it is by no means impossible.
But if your GM has any history of weird rulings or vindictive play, stay far, far away from wizard. If he's the type that will take your bonded item more than once just to be cruel, avoid that class feature like the plague. (And he'd probably kill your familiar, too, though the cost of that is less significant.)
I was discussing an up-coming campaign with my GM last night, as we began talking about party roles.
(It will be our first full Pathfinder game.)
He implied a wizard would be a bad idea for campaign reasons (lost world adventure, little access to other wizards and few items available).
He then went on to suggest that the arcane bond was horrible as the item could be broken or taken, costing too much to replace (lost world means little access to casting goods we don't make ourselves, let alone straight cash) and making it impossible to cast without heinous concentration checks.
I like the bonded item, but wasn't able to come up with an argument to answer him.
What do ya'll think?
Well, your GM should have an idea of what his game is going to be like and it's worth listening to what he has to say. Wizards are not for every game. My group often has games where we are in a rush to save the world (no time to craft or scribe), or spend almost all of our time poor in the wild. We have had games where the sorceress had more spells known then the wizard. So if the GM is warning you, listen.
That being said, the warning about bonded objects might be a personal opinion, rather then a GM warning. He might be the kind of guy who will pull back from killing a familiar, but have no qualms about sundering an object. So the bonded item to him is a fragile thing, where a familiar is nothing that needs to be worried about. For some, it's the other way around. Personally we almost never see sunder used at our table. We also generally handwave familiars as tucked safely in a pouch or backpack, unless the wizard intentionally sends it into harm's way.
That bonded item argument he presented was lacking.
1.If you can get close enough to take away the bonded item then you are close enough to kill the wizard, and the bonded item is not at the top of the priority list at that point.
2.The item is not used when you cast spells if you pick something like a ring so there is no way to find out which of your items is the bonded one.
Just because the GM knows something that does not mean the NPC's are supposed to know it.
3.In a low magic world casters are the best class to be. While other classes are trying to get magic items you will have magic at your fingertips literally.
4.The crafting skill can allow you to make another item. Just be sure to take the correct one. I would just spend free time making backup items if he goes into meta-game mode.
5.The concentration check is hard at low levels, but later it becomes trivial.
Take a Bonded Ring. When the party kills something, take a small piece of bone and whittle it into a ring shape. Take a single rank in a Craft to do this. The time involved should be pretty short as it's not a super expensive Adamantine Ring of Uberosity. Keep spares.
Also, if the GM *does* sunder your Bonded 'xyz' look carefully at his play style: Does he take toys from the melees and archers? Is he 'afraid' of the game breaking power of wizards? Play as part of the team, big boy rules (everyone has the same issues to overcome-no one is singled out).
GNOME
I think that your GM could be a bit more creative. How are the combat based characters going to advance their weapons in this world? What will happen to the fighter is his sword is sundered? Will he just have to soldier on with only a dagger? Maybe for a short time, but I'll bet that he would eventually be able to replace it.
If your bonded item breaks, it leads to a short period of time where your wizard sucks. Just like your fighter will be less useful if his sword breaks or is lost. However, it's not the end of the game, your bonded item can be replaced with just about any magical goodie that you get along the way. So unless the GM is planning to give you nothing except coin and jewels, you'll be able to use something to replace the bonded item.
It's not inconceivable that a powerful wizard would go looking for more knowledge in the jungles of a lost world. Or maybe he went there looking for a place to study his art alone. Then he was killed and his spellbook ended up in the hoard that your party uncovers. This is a fantasy game, you don't always need a rational explanation for why you (as a DM) give the players what they need to advance as a character.
Good luck playing your wizard! I hope your GM is a bit more flexible with you, since the wizard is the most flexible of the arcane spellcasters. If you get the sense that he's just going to kill off the wizard, then I would just consider playing another class.
That depends on how the GM is defining "low magic". For me that would mean that Wizards don't get freebies per level, sorcerers don't exist, and that access to scrolls and new spells are seminal events not to be expected as routine.
3.In a low magic world casters are the best class to be. While other classes are trying to get magic items you will have magic at your fingertips literally.
That is a valid interpretation, and if the OP comes back with that interpretation I would suggest he changes classes or GM's.
That bonded item argument he presented was lacking.
1.If you can get close enough to take away the bonded item then you are close enough to kill the wizard, and the bonded item is not at the top of the priority list at that point.
2.The item is not used when you cast spells if you pick something like a ring so there is no way to find out which of your items is the bonded one.
Just because the GM knows something that does not mean the NPC's are supposed to know it.
3.In a low magic world casters are the best class to be. While other classes are trying to get magic items you will have magic at your fingertips literally.
4.The crafting skill can allow you to make another item. Just be sure to take the correct one. I would just spend free time making backup items if he goes into meta-game mode.
5.The concentration check is hard at low levels, but later it becomes trivial.
This is the kind of return arguments I was looking for.
Although, as replacement for a bonded item takes a week and costs 200gp times the wizard class level, so crafting a new bonded item may be a problem.Is there any way to get a bonus to the concentration check?
DC = 20 + spell level is not trivial for a long time at slow experience gain when your bonus to the roll is wizard level plus stat bonus alone.
How are the combat based characters going to advance their weapons in this world? What will happen to the fighter is his sword is sundered? Will he just have to soldier on with only a dagger? Maybe for a short time, but I'll bet that he would eventually be able to replace it.
If your bonded item breaks, it leads to a short period of time where your wizard sucks. Just like your fighter will be less useful if his sword breaks or is lost. However, it's not the end of the game, your bonded item can be replaced with just about any magical goodie that you get along the way. So unless the GM is planning to give you nothing except coin and jewels, you'll be able to use something to replace the bonded item.
A fighter can carry multiple weapons, switching between them as necessary. And could just pick up a club or staff. A wizard can have only one bonded item. Loss of a piece of equiptment affects them differently.
Has there been anything official said about changing types of bonded items during the wizard's career?
For example, if I lost my amulet, could I bond to a wand I had found?
Would the cost for changing the bonded item be covered by the value of the found wand or would it be in addition to the cost/value of the new bonded item?
If I still had my ring, but wanted to switch to a staff, do I just break it and spend a week without? Or keep the ring, incorporate into a staff and never go without?
Not really going to be low magic, just more lost world type terrain, so no cities to buy magical supplies like scrolls or wand materials.
In most game there is no reason to know what the supplies are that you need to scribe a scroll or put a spell into your spell book or replenish your casting bag, but when you're in the wilderness 'spend 100 gp times the level of the spell to put it in your spellbook' has new meaning.
A fighter can carry multiple weapons, switching between them as necessary. And could just pick up a club or staff. A wizard can have only one bonded item. Loss of a piece of equiptment affects them differently.
And counterpoint. You are correct. There were a lot of factors that I didn't consider in that part of the answer. I was thinking more of a specialized fighter who lost his specialty weapon and thus lots of bonuses when using a different weapon, or of a higher level fighter losing a high powered item and needing to fall back on a lower quality or mundane one. However, I didn't write any of that. *grins sheepishly* Regardless, you are correct that they are not entirely equal situations.
Has there been anything official said about changing types of bonded items during the wizard's career?
For example, if I lost my amulet, could I bond to a wand I had found?
Would the cost for changing the bonded item be covered by the value of the found wand or would it be in addition to the cost/value of the new bonded item?
If I still had my ring, but wanted to switch to a staff, do I just break it and spend a week without? Or keep the ring, incorporate into a staff and never go without?
From the CR: "If a bonded object is damaged, it is restored to full hit
points the next time the wizard prepares his spells. If theobject of an arcane bond is lost or destroyed, it can be
replaced after 1 week in a special ritual that costs 200 gp
per wizard level plus the cost of the masterwork item. This
ritual takes 8 hours to complete. Items replaced in this
way do not possess any of the additional enchantments
of the previous bonded item. A wizard can designate an
existing magic item as his bonded item. This functions in
the same way as replacing a lost or destroyed item except
that the new magic item retains its abilities while gaining
the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a bonded item. (emphasis mine)
From this I would say that, yes, you can swith from a ring to a wand that you found, but you can't get around that 200gp per level. You would however, seem to be able to bypass the 1 week "mourning period" or whatever you want to call it.
I was discussing an up-coming campaign with my GM last night, as we began talking about party roles.
(It will be our first full Pathfinder game.)
He implied a wizard would be a bad idea for campaign reasons (lost world adventure, little access to other wizards and few items available).
He then went on to suggest that the arcane bond was horrible as the item could be broken or taken, costing too much to replace (lost world means little access to casting goods we don't make ourselves, let alone straight cash) and making it impossible to cast without heinous concentration checks.
I like the bonded item, but wasn't able to come up with an argument to answer him.
What do ya'll think?
You don't need an arcane bond to be a great level 1 wizard! You need scribe scroll! And you get it for free. Scribe everything especially no save/limited caster level benefit spells. You can always be prepared. Or be a verdent sorcerer and pretend you're a druid.
If your not going to have access to materials, creation feats (including scribe scroll) become rather worthless.
If your worried about losing your bonded item a ring or amulet is a good choice. They are unlikely to be sundered, and if your in sunder range, you should likely be getting hit instead. You could also wear multiple rings and amulets. There's no limit on mundane jewelry.
If you can't make a replacement spellbook due to lack of materials, even if your DM doesn't specifically go after you, something could still happen to it.
If you think you DM might give you a hard time about material components, Eschew Materials might be a thought. If your in a lost world setting with no civilization you'll have to forage for components. Your DM might decide certain components are rare or just not to be found in the region. (There are absolutely no bats on the island.)
Even if the only issues are bonded object and spellbook, a lost world setting could be bad for a Wizard. There are measures you can take against losing those items, and in many campaigns losing a spellbook or bonded item may not even come up. But, on the off chance it does, unless you can think of a way to replace them in such a setting with few to no supplies, it may not be worth the risk. A sorcerer, after all, doesn't need anything to work his magic.
This is the kind of return arguments I was looking for.
Although, as replacement for a bonded item takes a week and costs 200gp times the wizard class level, so crafting a new bonded item may be a problem.
Is there any way to get a bonus to the concentration check?
DC = 20 + spell level is not trivial for a long time at slow experience gain when your bonus to the roll is wizard level plus stat bonus alone.
I think there are traits that improve caster level. Those would affect your concentration. There might be feats also, but I don't know any off hand.
Someone mentioned eschew materials. That is a good feat to take in this situation.
This is the kind of return arguments I was looking for.
Although, as replacement for a bonded item takes a week and costs 200gp times the wizard class level, so crafting a new bonded item may be a problem.
Is there any way to get a bonus to the concentration check?
DC = 20 + spell level is not trivial for a long time at slow experience gain when your bonus to the roll is wizard level plus stat bonus alone.I think there are traits that improve caster level. Those would affect your concentration. There might be feats also, but I don't know any off hand.
Someone mentioned eschew materials. That is a good feat to take in this situation.
There is the trait focused mind that increases your concentration by +2. The other trait I know of, magical knack, only improves CL by 2 up to your total hit dice - something that seems unlikely in this setup.
And there are those traits that increase your caster level for one specific spell only. If you take that one, casting that spell would mean having a higher caster level and thus a higher concentration bonus.The feat combat casting won't help you here since it's only for casting defensively...
I guess what is left is to boost your ability scores.