Some friends and i will be starting the Rise of the Runelords adventure path soon and i'm looking to fill some needs for the group. I always seem to be the one who picks up the slack in groups and this one is no different.
Our party will consist, as far as i know, of a
1. Fighter
2. Paladin
3. Druid
4. Me- i'm leaning towards a Wizard(scholar sort).
What are we missing and how can we/i go about patching some holes?
This is only going to be my 3rd time playing pathfinder and i haven't played 3.5 since 4e came out. I am currently playing in the First steps PFS adventure path.
You are short on skills and Arcane magic. Wizard should fill some of one and all of the other. A good trapspringer is nice but not absolutely essential, arcane magic, though - you WANT that in RotR.
You are short on skills and Arcane magic. Wizard should fill some of one and all of the other. A good trapspringer is nice but not absolutely essential, arcane magic, though - you WANT that in RotR.
I have never played a Wizard before, except in 4e, so i was drawn to that class as something new to try out. One can only stand so much stand & bang type PC's and i've had my fill for now. Playing a Switch-Hitter Urban Ranger for the First Steps.
Another idea was aa Archaeologist Bard. Thoughts on this type of build or would all recommend a straight Wizard and if so any specifics i should gravitate towards?
Straight wizard is probably best way to go, and I recommend crafting feats as the AP is a little stingy on the loot at least in the forms you would want it to be in.
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For Wizard I would go strait and specialize in Conjuration. Make enchantment and evocation your opposed school. Then you are set to control the world around you. You control the battle field and make it so you allies can easily win every fight.
If you want to be able to plow stuff up easier then make enchantment and illusion your opposed schools.
Using conjuration, transmutation and abjuration you will be able to completely control the nature of the fight, to your allies advantage.
Some of the key things skills/roles your party may want for RotR:
1) Ability to deal with Giants
2) Scholar of ancient Thassilon, skilled in history and magic
3) Adept at exploring ancient runes as well as dark, dangerous dungeons
4) Ability to travel through wild frontiers
These are simply the tips from the Player's Guide and as a player in RotR now, I'd say they are all important.
Wizard and Archaeologist Bard are both great options for #2 and partly #3. In your party, I'd choose wizard because
Access to powerful magic at higher levels could be the key to survival, not just for the PCs, but also the entire world!
I think that the druid helps with #4 nicely, and your party has access to healing, which is nice. Hopefully someone has Knowledge: Dungeoneering and/or low-light vision for #3.
My main concern for your party is #1. The player's guide specifically points out that being able to deal with giants is useful. Hopefully some of your party are dwarves (+4 AC vs. giants), and/or have some backstory to hate giants. My party has a dwarf ranger with the campaign feat "Giant Slayer" and Favored Enemy:Giants, which has helped immensely in some tough situations.
A fighter and a paladin should be able to deal with giants, even if they are not specifically designed to do so.
Some of the key things skills/roles your party may want for RotR:
1) Ability to deal with Giants
2) Scholar of ancient Thassilon, skilled in history and magic
3) Adept at exploring ancient runes as well as dark, dangerous dungeons
4) Ability to travel through wild frontiersThese are simply the tips from the Player's Guide and as a player in RotR now, I'd say they are all important.
Wizard and Archaeologist Bard are both great options for #2 and partly #3. In your party, I'd choose wizard because
Access to powerful magic at higher levels could be the key to survival, not just for the PCs, but also the entire world!I think that the druid helps with #4 nicely, and your party has access to healing, which is nice. Hopefully someone has Knowledge: Dungeoneering and/or low-light vision for #3.
My main concern for your party is #1. The player's guide specifically points out that being able to deal with giants is useful. Hopefully some of your party are dwarves (+4 AC vs. giants), and/or have some backstory to hate giants. My party has a dwarf ranger with the campaign feat "Giant Slayer" and Favored Enemy:Giants, which has helped immensely in some tough situations.
My hope is that the Fighter will be a Dwarf. My group hasn't really been openly vocal about their plans for their characters outside of the classes.
So from what i'm seeing/reading it looks as though my plan to go Wizard would be ideal. Perhaps Elf or Human w/the Scholar of Ancients traits and maybe something for disable device & dungeoneering and let the Druid handle the nature/healing.
Our party Alchemist has been invaluable when we did not have a Wizard (couldn't make a few sessions).
a wizard is stil the best choice high INT gives you alot of skillpoints and its stil the best Caster out there a wizard also fits the original feelz of the first campaign paizo made!
i would like to sugest Magus but only if your fighter or paladin is gonna go Ranged and not melee.
So from what i'm seeing/reading it looks as though my plan to go Wizard would be ideal. Perhaps Elf or Human w/the Scholar of Ancients traits and maybe something for disable device & dungeoneering and let the Druid handle the nature/healing.
Between the druid and the paladin they should be able to handle the healing, and the druid the nature, a wizard would be quite useful in this campaign with those traits, but I wouldnt discount the archeologist bard which would I think round out your party abilities a little better then a wizard. But a wizard is still a good choice.
My hope is that the Fighter will be a Dwarf. My group hasn't really been openly vocal about their plans for their characters outside of the classes.
I laughed because this is the opposite of what I did. I told my GM, "All I know is that I want to be a Dwarf"... and we filled in the details, like class, from there. :)
Wizard would be ideal. Perhaps Elf or Human w/the Scholar of Ancients traits and maybe something for disable device & dungeoneering and let the Druid handle the nature/healing.
This sounds like a solid plan. The best class is the one you really enjoy, and it sounds like you will enjoy playing a Wizard, so I wish you much fun and the best of luck!
RotR is a blast!
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Just encourage the paladin to be an archer. After a few levels and archer feats, he'll be clearing BBEG's by himself. :-)
And having a magic item crafter is essential. Unless your GM is very generous or hand waves certain things, you aren't going find much in the way of useable magic equipment throughout the majority of the AP.
Trust me. I ran this AP, and it became an issue. Had to add a friendly NPC crafter until the party was able to start picking up the necessary feats.
Well i trust the DM to be pretty good about the game, adjust where needed and he also has some house rules he'll be implementing. He is the only one i've played with before, many years of 3.0-3.5 and some 4e and Vampire. The others are 2 friends and the guy playing the paladin i've never met before.
As a note, i highly doubt the Paladin will be ranged. Not very iconic but who knows. Our fighter is playing a Dwarf Paladin in our PFS game and he stated he really enjoys playing Dwarfs so... He also has experience with PF and read through the RotRL player guide so i have my fingers crossed that he wants to smash some giants.
As i've stated, i really want to play an Elf Wizard and feel it will be great fun so any further advice along those lines would be great. We are getting a 25pt buy for stats.
Is there a bonified 1st level feat i can't live without. Some type of must have.
i really want to play an Elf Wizard and feel it will be great fun so any further advice along those lines would be great. We are getting a 25pt buy for stats.
One trait worth pointing out for Elves is Seeker of Brightness or Reactionary because going first wins fights.
As for feats, wizards benefit greatly from Improved Initiative and Toughness, and metamagic feats are useful.
One thing to consider is that if you are going for a scholar wizard, the Loremaster prestige class is pretty good. You'll need to invest in metamagic feats to get this prestige class.
One last thing - for RotR in particular, you may want to ask your DM about Thassilonian Sin magic. If you are a wizard and scholar of ancient Thassilon, you could further specialize in a certain branch of magic, as the wizards (and Runelords!) of Thassilon once did. Mechanically, this would mean you focus much more on one school of magic, getting extra spells in it, at the cost of not being able to prepare any spells from your opposition schools. Thassilonian Sin Magic could be a very cool way to go with your wizard in this campaign, giving you a lot of extra interaction and insight into both the plot and the "rising" threat in this campaign.
i really want to play an Elf Wizard and feel it will be great fun so any further advice along those lines would be great. We are getting a 25pt buy for stats.One trait worth pointing out for Elves is Seeker of Brightness or Reactionary because going first wins fights.
As for feats, wizards benefit greatly from Improved Initiative and Toughness, and metamagic feats are useful.
One thing to consider is that if you are going for a scholar wizard, the Loremaster prestige class is pretty good. You'll need to invest in metamagic feats to get this prestige class.
One last thing - for RotR in particular, you may want to ask your DM about Thassilonian Sin magic. If you are a wizard and scholar of ancient Thassilon, you could further specialize in a certain branch of magic, as the wizards (and Runelords!) of Thassilon once did. Mechanically, this would mean you focus much more on one school of magic, getting extra spells in it, at the cost of not being able to prepare any spells from your opposition schools. Thassilonian Sin Magic could be a very cool way to go with your wizard in this campaign, giving you a lot of extra interaction and insight into both the plot and the "rising" threat in this campaign.
I just started piecing this guy together and here's what i've got so far
Unnamed Hero
Male Lawful Neutral Elf
Wizard 1
Strength: 10 (0)
Dexterity: 16 (+3)
Constitution: 14 (+2)
Intelligence: 19 (+4)
Wisdom: 11 (0)
Charisma: 7 (-2)
Acrobatics: +3
Appraise: +4
Bluff: -2
Climb: +0
Diplomacy: -2
Disable Device: +1
Disguise: -2
Escape Artist: +3
Fly: +7(trained)
Handle Animal: -2
Heal: +0
Intimidate: -2
Knowledge (arcana): +9(trained)
Knowledge (dungeoneering): +8(trained)
Knowledge (engineering): +4
Knowledge (geography): +4
Knowledge (history): +9(trained)
Knowledge (local): +4
Knowledge (nature): +4
Knowledge (nobility): +4
Knowledge (planes): +4
Knowledge (religion): +4
Linguistics: +8(trained)
Perception: +2
Profession (librarian): +0
Profession (scribe): +0
Ride: +3
Sense Motive: +0
Sleight of Hand: +3
Spellcraft: +8
Stealth: +3
Survival: +0
Swim: +0
Use Magic Device: -2
Hit Points: 12 HP
Hit Dice: 1d6+6
Initiative: +5
Attack Bonus: +0
(melee: +0)
(ranged: +3)
Fortitude Save: +2
Reflex Save: +3
Will Save: +2
Armor Class: 13
(touch: 13)
(flat-footed: 10)
CMB: +0
CMD: 13
(flat-footed: 10)
Feats & Traits: Scribe Scroll, Toughness +3, Wizard Weapon Proficiencies, Reactionary, Scholar of the Ancients
Special Abilities: Low-Light Vision, Elven Immunities - Sleep, Elven Immunities, Acid Dart (7/day) (Sp), Arcane Familiar Nearby, Arcane Focus, Conjuration, Elven Magic, Empathic Link with Familiar (Su), Enchantment, Evocation, Share Spells with Familiar, Summoner's Charm (+1 rds) (Su)
Magic Items:
Other Gear:
Spells in Spellbook: Acid Splash (0), Arcane Mark (0), Bleed (0), Detect Magic (0), Detect Poison (0), Disrupt Undead (0), Ghost Sound (0), Haunted Fey Aspect (0), Mage Hand (0), Mending (0), Message (0), Open/Close (0), Prestidigitation (0), Read Magic (0), Resistance (0), Scrivener's Chant (0), Sotto Voce (0), Touch of Fatigue (0)
I haven't chosen spells yet and i'll need to talk to my DM about the Sin magic thing. I could specialize in (conjuration)Sloth which would give me opposition in Evocation and Illusion. I took the Arcane Focus Racial trait(instead of Weapon Familiarity). I need to chose an Animal Familiar still.
I'm still learning to format posts.
I took the Arcane Focus Racial trait(instead of Weapon Familiarity).
Very smart.
I could specialize in (conjuration)Sloth which would give me opposition in Evocation and Illusion.
It sounds like you are interested in conjuration. Great school of magic, lots of fun. When deciding on a school, review the spell list of opposition schools carefully to make sure you can still do what you want. For example, if you wanted to play a wizard that casts lots of fireballs and magic missiles, you'd be out of luck since they are Evocation spells. I'd say, (just my opinion here) that losing out on Evocation and Illusion spells isn't too bad. The main loss I see is that you couldn't prepare Color Spray, Minor Image, Invisibility, or the iconic Magic Missile. You could still use a wand for these, making a Use Magic Device check.
Your stats and abilities look very good to me. Your starting hp as a Wizard should be 6(HD)+2(CON)+1(Favored class)+3(Toughness) = 12hp (Very nice)
I need to chose an Animal Familiar still.It's a difficult choice. Some give nice initiative bonuses, while others can fly or sneak easily, depending on how clever you are. The best wizards use every tool in their vast arsenal, including a familiar's ability to scout ahead and such. Since you seem to be going the scholar/librarian route, I'd offer the Owl as a suggestion since it seems to fit the flavor. The owl's bonus is pretty good too:
Master gains a +3 bonus on sight-based and opposed Perception checks in shadows or darkness.
...nice for spotting those stealthy dungeon creepers. Especially for wizards, the last thing you want is to be caught in a surprise round.
Also, as an elf, you could choose to be a Spellbinder instead of having a familiar.
I noticed you specialized in Conjuration, so I'd suggest also looking into the Conjuration: Teleportation subschool if you haven't already. Maybe you'd like it if it fits with your character concept.
I took the Arcane Focus Racial trait(instead of Weapon Familiarity).Very smart.
I could specialize in (conjuration)Sloth which would give me opposition in Evocation and Illusion.It sounds like you are interested in conjuration. Great school of magic, lots of fun. When deciding on a school, review the spell list of opposition schools carefully to make sure you can still do what you want. For example, if you wanted to play a wizard that casts lots of fireballs and magic missiles, you'd be out of luck since they are Evocation spells. I'd say, (just my opinion here) that losing out on Evocation and Illusion spells isn't too bad. The main loss I see is that you couldn't prepare Color Spray, Minor Image, Invisibility, or the iconic Magic Missile. You could still use a wand for these, making a Use Magic Device check.
Your stats and abilities look very good to me. Your starting hp as a Wizard should be 6(HD)+2(CON)+1(Favored class)+3(Toughness) = 12hp (Very nice)
I need to chose an Animal Familiar still.It's a difficult choice. Some give nice initiative bonuses, while others can fly or sneak easily, depending on how clever you are. The best wizards use every tool in their vast arsenal, including a familiar's ability to scout ahead and such. Since you seem to be going the scholar/librarian route, I'd offer the Owl as a suggestion since it seems to fit the flavor. The owl's bonus is pretty good too:Master gains a +3 bonus on sight-based and opposed Perception checks in shadows or darkness....nice for spotting those stealthy dungeon creepers. Especially for wizards, the last thing you want is to be caught in a surprise round.
Also, as an elf, you could choose to be a Spellbinder instead of having a familiar.
I noticed you specialized in Conjuration, so I'd suggest also looking into the...
Thanks for the help.
For now i think i may go with a regular wizard as opposed to a Thassilonian Specialist and perhaps take a different set of opposed schools. Evocation and something else, illusions would be tough to give up/ spend an extra slot on.
I need to go over the different familiars but a scout of some sort would be nice. Something with darkvision and such would be nice. I'll try to post a fullish build when i finish it.
My Dm is a friend and a fan of emersion and RP and has instituted a retrain system ala 4e, along with some other houserules, so i should be able to customize this guy as i go along. If it fits into the story and setting i'm sure he allow for some reworks to the PC as long as the core of the build stays intact.
For a opposition school, here's my take:
*Never oppose transmutation. It's too important. All your best buff spells are there.
* Abjuration starts as the weakest school but gets progressively stronger at higher levels. In a long-term campaign like this, it's a poor opposition choice.
* For divination, clerics can cover for the party's needs in a pinch. Your party lacks a cleric, so I'd advise against opposing this one.
I realize that evocation is often the "auto-oppose" choice (I'm as guilty as anyone) due to its heavy overlap with the big-daddy of all schools conjuration, but it does have its own merits. It has some great utility spells, and the awesome force spells.
Between illusion, enchantment, and necromancy, you really can't go wrong. All three have a good mix of save-or-suck, utility, and buffs that help the party. If you don't want to discard enchantment and are hesitant about illusion, then necromancy is probably the only other choice.
If you want darkvision, you can always spring for improved familiar later. Most of those have darkvision, which will give you broader options. I think you're mostly stuck with vermin (spiders, centipedes, and scorpions) for darkvision with your standard familiars, not that there's any problem with those.
You could take Dodge for your 1st feat, then a toad familiar to gain the +3 hp. Maybe change familiars out, at higher levels, when the +3 hp means less.
I just started piecing this guy together and here's what i've got so far
** spoiler omitted **...
Nice! Very similar to what I've done (currently at the beginning of Book 3) playing a 6th level Mordant Spire Conjuration specialist.
Some things I'll add/reiterate -
For Conjurers the Teleportation subschool from the APG is incredibly powerful. If you can sweet talk your DM into allowing it to function with the Dimensional Agility feat it becomes even better. But even without the feat thus far I've teleported to get out of reach of trouble, get past barriers, extend my movement for a round. Seriously, you will not regret having this ability and it could quite easily save your life at various points in the game.
Opposed Schools: I picked Evocation and Necromancy as my opposed schools, but there's an RP reason for that which I can't go into. It's been tough in some ways, I don't tend to throw out much in the way of damage, however we're in a particularly big party and the group hasn't lacked any oomft when it's mattered. When I'm not dropping a haste or displacement - I'm greasing floors, weapons, dropping pits, glitterdust and aqueous orbs and there have only been a few occasions where I've been plinking away with my crossbow. In fact on those occasions it's mostly been out of choice and a desire not to waste my spells. So the opposed school choice hasn't been too crippling thus far though I might take the wizard discovery later to bring Evocation back in as I do fancy the Wall and Hand spells for controlling enemies.
On spells, early doors: grease and glitterdust are your friends! Great spells targeting Reflex and Will and potentially making tough encounters cakewalks. Stumble Gap is a very good spell as well though be careful where you're placing it as it can be as much a hindrance as a boon in cramped situations. I took the Loreseeker trait to boost the DC's of Stumble Gap and Grease, my DC's for those at 1st level (with a 19 Int like yours) was 17 - very respectable!
Also - playing an elf, why not the Darkvision racial trait which replaces low-light vision. Dazzled in bright light? pfft -1 to attack and perception checks? Not too worried about that.
I personally went with Arcane Object:Ring and to be honest I'm very glad I did. I know my DM isn't going to start randomly sundering items on my person or stealing from me just to mess my character up, so the loss of an arcane object was never a concern, but I've used the "ANY spell in your book!" so many times already I don't think I could live without it. It's just very nice to have that flexibility and the higher level you get the more valuable it becomes.
Lastly, speak to your DM about knowledge skills. Mine is quite happy to have an outlandish "historian" in the group as it's a good way to reveal information though some DM's might not be too keen on out of plot reveals. Better safe than sorry ^^
It's a great adventure path so prepare to have loads of fun! This is my first PF wizard and it's been a total blast so far. :)
i usually pick necro/ench as my opp.. But thats mostly because their are alot of thing immune to ench and even if their not most of the spells do nothing on a made save.. Necro because i play mostly good aligned characters who dont dabble in the black arts and because as a hole(besides some higher level spells), i think its an underpowered school.. Some will argue evocation and i understand their arguements, but regardless of resistance/immunites at higher levels a good ole fireball is hard to beat somtimes, ntm magic missle is great and their is some decent cc in evocation(wall of force, forcecage, hand spells, ntm contingency).. In my current rotrl camp the pcs are an archer fighter, switch hitter ranger, scarred witch doctor, and a sorc.. We do well with this group.. Alot better than our original grp that got tpked by a certain scythe weilding foe..
I went with the Teleportation sub school and arcane bond for some versatility for now, this may go back to an Owl though. I'll see what the DM says about these after i send my character for his approval.
Looking for suggestions on spells.
So far i took, and these are switchable. In no particular order.
Three 1st level spells
1. Color spray
2. Grease
3. Mage Armor
Four extra spells for Intelligence modifier
1. Magic Missile
2. Stumble Gap
3. ?
4. ?
Thanks for all the help.
I would suggest snowball and shield.. The first is better than magic missle unless u need an autohit, the second will give u a 21 ac with mage armor and 16 dex..
I would suggest snowball and shield.. The first is better than magic missle unless u need an autohit, the second will give u a 21 ac with mage armor and 16 dex..
OK if i did this right i've gone with
Color Spray, Feather Fall, Grease, Mage Armor, Shield, Snowball and Stumble Gap.
Your GM may not like the idea of your wizard knowing the spell Snowball. It's a spell from "Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the North". Unless your wizard hails from the northernmost reaches of the Inner Sea, descends from a family from this region, or studied some obscure text to learn this spell, a DM may have good reason to reject it.
Maybe have a Plan B in case your DM doesn't approve Snowball?
Your GM may not like the idea of your wizard knowing the spell Snowball. It's a spell from "Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the North". Unless your wizard hails from the northernmost reaches of the Inner Sea, descends from a family from this region, or studied some obscure text to learn this spell, a DM may have good reason to reject it.
Maybe have a Plan B in case your DM doesn't approve Snowball?
Oh i will. Even if it's not the greatest spell one can never truly scoff at a Wizard with the tried and true Magic Missile.
Charm Person I've had a couple of uses for early on.
While your Dm might not approve - Windy Escape is a great defensive spell early on.
Enlarge Person - give your melee buddy reach.
And of course there's Magic Weapon.
As a side note, i was thinking about this character and i would like to keep him as "Core Rules" as possible. Now i haven't double checked all my sources since i've been using Hero Lab to build him but i'd like to know, What is considered the core rules set?
What is considered the core rules set?
The most strict among gamers might say "core" only includes the CRB (Core Rule Book).
However, in many groups/games, "core" has come to mean anything from the CRB, APG (Advanced Players Guide), your campaign player's guide, UM (Ultimate Magic), AA (Adventurer's Armory) and UC (Ultimate Combat). Basically, stay away from 3rd party books, setting-specific books that don't match your setting (like "People of the North"), or books for other campaigns.
To answer your question, I suppose that only using the CRB is "as "Core Rules" as possible". There are many different opinions about what should be allowed in different games, and each group decides differently. I would rank the "core-ness" of books in this order:
1) CRB (definition of 'core')
- - - - -
2) APG
3) UM, UC, AA
4) Race-specific books (for your race)
5) Setting-specific books (relevant to your setting / backstory)
- - - - -
6) Psionics
7) Setting or Race books irrelevant to your race/setting
8) Books from other campaigns
9) Anything from a 3rd party
There is plenty of room to disagree with the loose order I just mentioned. In my group, we use everything from 1-5, but a character must go on a special side-quest to learn any non-core spell. For example, my dwarf went on a stone-quest to seek the tomb of an ancient ancestor, whose ghost taught him ancient dwarven spells from the books "Dwarves of Golarion" and the APG.
1) CRB (definition of 'core')
- - - - -
2) APG
3) UM, UC, AA
4) Race-specific books (for your race)
5) Setting-specific books (relevant to your setting / backstory)
This was my thinking for the core and most easily accepted material to be used in the campaign. Not that i alway agree with limiting options it just seems to make more sense from both a Character creation and game story standpoint.
Full build minus gear.
Albanon
Male Elf Wizard 1
N Medium Humanoid (elf)
Init +5; Senses low-light vision; Perception +2
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Defense
--------------------
AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
hp 12 (1d6+6)
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +2; +2 vs. enchantments
Immune magic sleep; Resist elven immunities
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft., shift (5') (7/day)
Melee Dagger +0 (1d4/19-20/x2) and
Quarterstaff -4 (1d6/1d6/x2) and
Unarmed strike +0 (1d3/x2)
Ranged Light crossbow +3 (1d8/19-20/x2)
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1):
1 (2/day) Shield, Magic Missile, Mage Armor
0 (at will) Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Light
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 19, Wis 11, Cha 7
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 13
Feats Scribe Scroll, Toughness +3
Traits Reactionary, Scholar of the Ancients
Skills Knowledge (arcana) +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +8, Knowledge (history) +9, Knowledge (local) +8, Linguistics +8, Perception +2, Spellcraft +8 (+10 to determine the properties of a magic item)
Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan, Thassilonian
SQ arcane bonds (object [amulet] [1/day]), arcane focus, elven magic, opposition schools (enchantment, necromancy), specialized schools (teleportation), summoner's charm (+1 rds)
Other Gear Crossbow bolts (30), Dagger, Light crossbow, Quarterstaff, Amulet, 80 GP
--------------------
TRACKED RESOURCES
--------------------
Arcane Bond (Amulet) (1/day) (Sp) - 0/1
Crossbow bolts - 0/30
Dagger - 0/1
Shift (5') (7/day) (Sp) - 0/7
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Bond (Amulet) (1/day) (Sp) Use object to cast any spell in your spellbook 1/day. Without it, Concentration required to cast spells (DC20 + spell level).
Arcane Focus +2 to concentration checks to cast arcane spells defensively.
Elven Immunities +2 save bonus vs Enchantments.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Elven Magic +2 to spellcraft checks to determine the properties of a magic item.
Enchantment You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Enchantment school.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Necromancy You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Necromancy school.
Shift (5') (7/day) (Sp) Short-range teleport
Summoner's Charm (+1 rds) (Su) Increase duration of summoning spells by 1/2 level (permanent at 20).
Teleportation Associated School: Conjuration
Any further commentary would be great.
familiars are more powerfull and are alot cooller than bonded objects just an observation but its not that much of a difrence ofcourse.
over time getting improved initiative and adding a +4 to ini from a familiar makes you almost always go first!
also want to noye you have a verry powerull wizard alot of HP! even more than my magus (alot more) i wouldnt have wasted so much in there and put more in wisdom or STR and would also wouldnt have wasted the feat on toughness although if you take it lvl 1 is the best time to take it
I think your build is pretty solid. In general i would agree that have a familiar, esp. with imp. fam at 7th<, is better than the arcane bond, but i also like the utility of the bond.. If you dont like having a pet, or u think ur gm might be apt to target it alot than the bond is prob better for u.. Its certainly not bad for sure.. With that in mind i would select the following feats as u level..
3rd: skill focus-Conj.
5th: augmented summons
5th: extend spell
7th: superior summons
After those feats the only other one thats truely needed is quicken spell somwhere ard 11th-13th level.. Craft Wonderous could be really good in Rotrl, as there is ample downtime and with a ring of sustanence u can really cover some ground.. Im sure uve read Treantmonk's guide to the God Wizard, which is basically what ur playing.. If u havent, go find it and read it.. Ur main goal should be to buff and cc baddies.. The create pit line of spells will be ur friend, as well as black tentacles.. Good Luck with the camp, im 12th level now in Rotrl and its been a blast!
I went with the bonded item for the added utility because well... i am a Wizard and all. Also i really picture my PC with an heirloom Amulet more so than a critter. Another reason was the feats, i was going to take a craft feat anyway and i don't need that feat to upgrade my bonded item so thats a plus, whereas i need to take improved familiar in order to upgrade my pet.
To answer Darkflame- I really like HP's because i will get hit sometimes and taking a lump once in awhile won't have me pooping my robes. I also didn't really see a need to boost my STR or WIS. My 1st level feat choices came down to Toughness for survivability and Imp. Initiative. The second was mitigated some by the Reactionary Trait. I may try to take Imp. Init at 3rd but we'll see, i'm not as jazzed about going first as a lot folks are. Also we have a retrain houserule so if i find as i'm leveling that i can sacrifice a little survivability inorder to go first i'll just swap the two.
To WerePox47- I like the utility also. I'm not to concerned with my DM targeting my pet, nor do i think he'll try to sunder my Amulet. If that's how it goes i'll go out of my way to become the true god a Wizard can be and truly ruin his day. 8) Thanks for the feat suggestions and yes i have been reading Treantmonk's and Professor Q's guides. I will probably read any and all of the guides and sub-guides and sub-sub-guides i come across too.
My DM was totally flabbergasted and psyched with how awesome the Conjuration:Teleportation subschool was and gave me the OK to role with it. When it comes to the idea of Dimensional Agility working with it, i won't even go down that road. As far as my reading i don't think RAW it would work since you are not using Dimension Door but an ability that acts like it. But not really a loss to me.
Are there other ways to boost teleports and movement that would work in a legal fashion with Shift(Su) power?
Another reason was the feats, i was going to take a craft feat anyway and i don't need that feat to upgrade my bonded item so thats a plus, whereas i need to take improved familiar in order to upgrade my pet.
Note that this is fine if you do not plan on taking Craft Wondrous Items (which covers amulets) but out of all the crafting feats this is the one with the most mileage. Like you I'd considered taking an amulet but then figured it would be a bit of a waste when I was going to take CWI anyway and could instead start enchanting a ring when I hit 7th level.
The flipside to that, of course, is the Amulet of Spell Cunning:
This silver locket only has power when used as a wizard’s bonded object. It allows a wizard to prepare an additional 3 levels of spells per day.
But personally I went with the ring anyway. There are a few nice ring enchants but not enough to warrant buying into the feat.
Are there other ways to boost teleports and movement that would work in a legal fashion with Shift(Su) power?
Yea to each their own. My Gm felt it was keeping in spirit with the feat and doesn't see it as imbalanced though we both accepted the caveat that if it does prove to be too good we would revert that decision. In answer to your question though - none that I can think of off the top of my head.
Keep in mind you can always get the "opposition research" feat, so for a school that has spells you want only in later levels, you could make it an opposed school to begin with, and then take the feat later!