(The Kingmaker aspect is secondary really; Just listed it for context)
Our group was supposed to make new Kingmaker characters about a month ago but we were delayed. Last night we sat down and finally did it. I didnt finish due to some decisions I cant seem to make.
So I am torn on what school. I considered an Ifrit Diviner for the stupid good initiative roll, but I decided to go human. I was planning to maybe be a Conjurer and take the summoning feats, spell focus feats, spell penetration feats, improved init and maybe toughness. I could then use wizard feats for metamagic and get spell perfection at level 15.
All solid I guess but kinda boring. What I really kinda want to do is take fast learner, improvisation, and improved improvisiation so that I can get (by level 3) +4 to all unRanked skills, and in particular +8 to all int skills. Sort of a knowledge type guy. I would actually pump one or two knowledge skills.
Our group will have me (wizard), a cavalier, a saurial shaman druid, an oracle of flames, and a bow-based ranger. We have a 25 point buy. I was thinking 10 str, 14 dex, 14 con, 18 int, 10 wis, 14 cha.
With this setup I would get 8 skills per level so I would max out K(arcana), linguistics, spellcraft, perception, diplomacy, umd, sense motive, and bluff. Best of all, I would have +4 to all skills, which means I would have +8 to all knowledge and craft skills and appraise without spending points.
But of course the cost is that suddenly I am a rather unfocused Wizard.
Any advice on approach to take? I really like being a knowledge generalist but maybe I dont need the human improv line to do that. I also wonder if I should do Int 19 and Cha 12. I do want to pump a bunch of social skills but +1 may not be worth the hit to Int.
Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks!
3 feats just so you can get +4 bonus to skills seems a bit steep. You will be just great with your knowledge skills no matter what. My level 10 kingmaker wizard has 1 rank in all knowledge skills, combine that with his 24 int and the fact that knowledge is a class skill, I have a +11 in every knowledge skill, which for most purposes is more than enough. You can then put the rest of your points in the more vital skills: Spellcraft, Perception, Stealth, ect.
As for advice on what school to choose? I've done both a Teleportation Conjurer Wizard and a Foresight Diviner Wizard. They both perform great in Kingmaker, but I would have to say I like the Diviner better.
I went elf for the spellbinder archetype so that I could have better access to some of the utility spells. Being able to swap out a spell for Teleport at a moment's notice is quite handy. Also, You don't always need a Dispel Magic, but it's handy to be able to swap out for when you do. Spellbinder gives up your arcane bond, but if you keep Chr at 13, you could use a couple feats to get him back with Skill Focus (Kn: Arcana), and Eldritch Heritage (Arcane). Of course if you do that you'll probably want to go a step further and pick up Improved Familiar as well.
I also picked up preferred spell for casting dragons breath spontaneously. If you like to blast from time to time, it's a good idea to pick up Magical Lineage on a blast spell like fireball or dragons breath, and then combine it with preferred spell and spell perfection so that you can spontaneously add one of your Metamagic feats without level adjustment to your favorite blast spell. (You'll eventually want to get the spell penetration feats as you start seeing SR more and more after level 10) If you go Diviner, its not as big of a deal for SR because with Prescience, you get to roll twice to try to beat that SR.
Since this is Kingmaker, you will also have a ton of downtime, so if you can take crafting feats, you might want to consider taking them.
Wow. Thats way too many directions to consider for feats. :)
As for blasting, we will have an oracle of flame. So I am not sure I want to go that route. Also my last serious wizard was an elf diviner so I am not sure I should do that again. :)
Ugh. Decisions, decisions!
Thanks for the reply, and thanks to anyone who resopnds as well!
Wow. Thats way too many directions to consider for feats. :)
As for blasting, we will have an oracle of flame. So I am not sure I want to go that route. Also my last serious wizard was an elf diviner so I am not sure I should do that again. :)
Ugh. Decisions, decisions!
Thanks for the reply, and thanks to anyone who resopnds as well!
Indeed it's a lot of directions. I wasn't really suggesting to go with all of them, just highlighting some of what you could do.
So, if you want to try something other than the diviner, and blasting will be done by the Oracle, the Conjurer is a good choice. Take Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augmented Summoning, and Superior Summons. The rest of it is just gravy.
Then you can focus on Battlefield Control while your summons do the dirty work.
There's a good wizard guide that includes lists of good summons here: Prof Q's Wizard Guide
Even includes a sample build at the end of the doc.
Thanks, I will take a look!